RJD Declares Rabri Devi Will Not Vacate Circular Road Bungalow

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday asserted that former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi will continue to reside at her long-occupied government bungalow, rejecting the state government’s recent directive asking her to relocate.

The statement came from RJD’s Bihar unit president, Mangani Lal Mandal, a day after the state building construction department ordered Rabri Devi to move to 39, Hardinge Road, officially designated as the residence for the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council.

Speaking to the media, Mandal made the party’s stand unequivocally clear: the residence at 10, Circular Road, located just opposite the chief minister’s official address at 1, Anney Marg, “will not be vacated, come what may.”

Mandal alleged that the government’s move reflected bias. “The decision smacks of malice the ruling NDA harbours for our leader Lalu Prasad. Why did Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wait for two decades before earmarking a government bungalow for the leader of the opposition in the legislative council? And if it was necessary, why did the government not earmark 10, Circular Road? They should have considered the fact that its occupants, Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, have both served as chief ministers.”

State minister Santosh Kumar Suman, however, maintained that the bungalow had originally been allotted to Rabri Devi under an earlier rule granting lifetime accommodation to former chief ministers. That policy, he pointed out, was withdrawn following an Allahabad High Court judgment.

“That provision had to be scrapped following an Allahabad High Court ruling a few years ago. In any case, we are not depriving Rabri Devi of the bungalow. Moreover, the government has the right to decide which bungalow should be allotted to whom,” Suman said.

Mandal countered that the move was politically motivated. “Nitish Kumar has taken the decision to curry favour with the BJP. The JD(U) supremo has been rattled by the aggression of his alliance partner, which has forced him to give up the Home portfolio he held so dear. So, knowing the BJP's ill-will towards Lalu ji, Nitish Kumar has tried to appease Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ilk by insulting our leader.”

He warned the ruling coalition against underestimating the RJD, citing voting figures from the recent assembly elections. “The ruling NDA should remember that we may be in the opposition, but in the recent assembly elections, we got more votes than any of its constituents. As per the Election Commission, we got more than one crore votes while the BJP, the NDA's largest constituent, got less than 90 lakh. So they better not try to belittle us.”

Mandal had addressed the press after a party meeting held to assess the RJD’s steep decline in seats which reduced from 75 in the previous assembly to 25 this time. Despite the setback, he insisted the party had not been defeated. “We did not lose the elections. It was the system that worked against us. We should consider ourselves as victors and not losers.”

Highlighting the resource gap between the RJD and its rivals, he added, “Just look at the enormous resources BJP-led NDA had. Our leader Tejashwi Yadav had to put up against their fleet of helicopters and chartered plans, the large amount of money donated by big business houses. We must not think that we have lost.”

With PTI inputs