Rabri Devi moves to own house, gives up government bungalow she had occupied for two decades

Published 2 July 2026 · politics

Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi on Thursday (July 2, 2026) shifted to her own house, giving up the government bungalow that had been her residence

Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi on Thursday (July 2, 2026) shifted to her own house, giving up the government bungalow that had been her residence as well as the camp office of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), headed by her husband Lalu Prasad, for nearly two decades. The development is being seen as indicative of a diminution in clout of the proverbial first family of the Opposition party, which was on good terms with the ruling dispensation until it was headed by JD(U) president Nitish Kumar. Rabri Devi had been allotted 10, Circular Road, situated right across the street from the Chief Minister’s residence and a stone’s throw from the Governor’s House, by the previous Nitish Kumar government, shortly after she lost power in the 2005 Assembly polls.

She moved to her private house in Kautilya Nagar, situated about 2 km away, under pressure from the BJP administration headed by Samrat Choudhary, which has allotted 10, Circular Road to party leader and Minister Nand Kishor Ram. She had been first asked to vacate the house in November last year when the Nitish Kumar government ordered that 10, Circular Road shall be “designated as the deputy CM’s residence” and the RJD leader was allotted another bungalow in her capacity as the leader of the opposition in the state legislative council. However, Rabri Devi refused to move to 39, Hardinge Road, which is not as spacious as 10, Circular Road, in addition to being perceived as “unlucky” since the political fortunes of all past occupants took a nosedive after staying there.

Last month, when the state Building Construction Department passed a fresh order commanding Rabri Devi to move to 38, Hardinge Road and give up the possession of 10, Circular Road by June 29, she reacted by throwing a fit and challenging Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who had once served in her cabinet, to evict her forcefully. However, she relented after her intransigence earned the Opposition party negative publicity, with leaders of the NDA going to town with the charge that the RJD leaders seemed insistent on having “separate houses for all members of the family”. Notably, Rabri Devi’s younger son Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD’s working president, occupies 2, Polo Road, a ministerial bungalow that has been allotted to him in his capacity as the leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly.

Her elder son, Tej Pratap Yadav, who is estranged from the family and stands expelled from the family, also lives in a government bungalow which was allotted to him after he petitioned the government for a place from where he could run his fledgling Janshakti Janata Dal.