Rabri Devi

Rabri Devi Yadav (also spelled as Raabri), (born 1 January 1955) is an Indian politician who formerly served 3 terms as the Chief Minister of Bihar, the first and only woman till date to have held the office. She is a Member (MLC) of Bihar Legislative Council and she currently serving as the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Vidhan Parishad.

Rabri Devi Yadav
Devi in 2005
Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Vidhan Parishad
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 February 2024
Preceded by	Hari Sahni
In office 13 April 2022 – 9 August 2022
Preceded by	herself
Succeeded by	Samrat Chaudhary
In office 12 May 2018 – 23 June 2020
Preceded by	Sushil Modi
Succeeded by	herself
Member of Bihar Legislative Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 2012
Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Vidhan Sabha
In office 20 November 2005 – 23 December 2010
Preceded by	Upendra Kushwaha
Succeeded by	Abdul Bari Siddiqui
21st Chief Minister of Bihar
In office 11 March 2000 – 6 March 2005
Governor	V. C. Pande M R Jois Ved Prakash Marwah (acting) Buta Singh Gopalkrishna Gandhi
Preceded by	Nitish Kumar
Succeeded by	President's rule
In office 9 March 1999 – 2 March 2000
Governor	Sunder Singh Bhandari
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	Nitish Kumar
In office 25 July 1997 – 11 February 1999
Governor	Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai
Preceded by	Lalu Prasad Yadav
Succeeded by	President's rule
Personal details
Born	(1955-01-01) 1 January 1955 (age 69) Salar Kalan, Bihar, India
Political party	Rashtriya Janata Dal
Spouse	Lalu Prasad Yadav ​ (m. 1973)​
Relations	Tej Pratap Singh Yadav (son-in-law) Chiranjeev Rao (son-in-law) Sadhu Yadav (brother) Subhash Prasad Yadav (brother)
Children	9 (including Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav and Misa Bharti)
Residence(s)	Hawai Adda, Patna, Bihar, India
Website	rjd.co.in/smt-rabri-devi/

She is married to Indian politician Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997). Yadav previously served as a Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly (MLA) and she formerly served as the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Vidhan Sabha.

Early life

Devi was born on 1 January 1955 in Salar Kalan village near Mirganj of Gopalganj district, Bihar. Her parents are Shiv Prasad Chaudhary and Maharjia Devi.^[1] She is named after an Indian sweet as per a custom in her family. Her 3 sisters are similarly named Jalebi, Rasgulla and Paan.^[2]

Prabhunath Yadav, Subhash Prasad Yadav and Sadhu Yadav are her three real brothers.

Political career

Devi became the first female Chief Minister of Bihar on 25 July 1997, after her husband, Lalu Prasad Yadav, was forced to resign following the arrest warrant issued against him in corruption charges relating to the Fodder scam ('Chaara Ghotala' , as known locally) She went on to rule the state till 2005.^[3][4]

Bihar CM Devi presents Rs.10 crore cheque to Prime Minister of the time ,Manmohan Singh for the national relief fund

Devi was elected thrice to Bihar Vidhan Sabha from Raghopur seat. In 2010 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, Devi contested from two seats: Raghopur and Sonpur assembly seats, but lost both in an election where the Rashtriya Janata Dal faced defeat, winning only 22 seats.^[5][6]

She contested from Saran in 2014 Lok Sabha election but lost to Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP.^[7]

Rabri Devi were elected unopposed to the Legislative Council.^[8]

Criticism

Devi's appointment as the Chief Minister of Bihar is considered one of the most unexpected and awkward decisions^[4] in Indian political history, as she was a traditional housewife and had no interest nor any prior experience in politics.^[3] She came under severe satirical criticism and stiff opposition, because of her illiteracy^[9][10] and inexperience.^[11]

Personal life and family

See also: Political families of Bihar § Lalu Yadav family

Devi married Lalu Prasad Yadav on 1 June 1973 at the age of 17 years, in an arranged marriage, and they went on to have seven daughters and then 2 sons. ^{[12][13][14][15][16][17]}

• eldest daughter: Misa Bharti
• 2nd daughter: Rohini Acharya Yadav
• 3rd daughter: Chanda Yadav
• 4th daughter: Ragini Yadav - married to Rahul Yadav, Samajwadi Party leader^[18]
• 5th daughter: Hema Yadav
• 6th daughter: Anushka Yadav (Dhannu) - married to Chiranjeev Rao
• youngest daughter: Raj Lakshmi Yadav - married to Tej Pratap Singh Yadav
• elder son: Tej Pratap Yadav
• younger son: Tejashwi Yadav

Note: Rahul Yadav is son of Jitendra Yadav, former MLC from the Samajwadi Party. Jitendra is the nephew of former MP D. P. Yadav.

Positions held

Devi Yadav has been elected 3 times as MLA.

#	From	To	Position	Party
1.	2000	2005	* MLA (1st term) from Raghopur (by-poll) * Chief Minister (3rd term) in Government of Bihar	RJD
2.	Feb 2005	Oct 2005	MLA (2nd term) from Raghopur	RJD
3.	2005	2010	* MLA (3rd term) from Raghopur * Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly	RJD
4.	2012	2018	MLC (2nd term) in Bihar Legislative Council	RJD
5.	2018	Present	MLC (3rd term) in Bihar Legislative Council	RJD

References

1. "Rabri Devi: Age, Biography, Education, Husband, Caste, Net Worth & More - Oneindia". OneIndia.
2. Akbar, M. J. (19 April 2004). "M. J. Akbar: Laloo steals Congress seats in Bihar for sweet Rabri". Gulf News.
3. Ahmed, Farz (11 August 1997). "Dragged from the kitchen to Bihar Assembly, Rabri Devi learns politics fast : Cover Story - India Today". India Today. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
4. Mishra, Dipak (17 February 2017). "Proxy rule lessons from Bihar". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
5. "RJD Mobbed: Rabri Devi Loses Both Her Seats". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
6. "Rabri loses in both seats". The Hindu. 24 November 2010.
7. Vaibhav, Aditya (17 May 2014). "Election results 2014: JD(U), RJD decimated in Bihar". The Times of India. TNN. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
8. "Rabri Devi were elected unopposed to the Legislative Council". Prabhat Khabar. Retrieved 27 June 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
9. "rediff.com: The Rediff Interview/ Rabri Devi". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2005. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
10. "Profile: Laloo to the Prasad Yadav". BBC. 18 December 2006. Archived from the original on 22 February 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
11. "rediff.com: The Rediff Interview/ Rabri Devi". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2005. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
12. "Lalu paid off a debt to his wife handsomely". DNA. 19 November 2013.
13. Thakurta, Paranjoy Guha (8 May 2004). "The durability of Laloo Prasad Yadav". Business Line. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
14. "Sons in Bihar cabinet, daughters wed to Mulayam kin - sprawling Lalu family tree spans party lines". The Print. 24 August 2022.
15. "Rabri Devi". Hindustan Times. 7 February 2005. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
16. "Rabri vividly recalls how she had boarded a steamer at Pahleja Ghat in Sonepur (Chapra) to reach the Patna residence soon after her marriage on March 18, 1974 when curfew had been imposed all over the district". Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
17. Thakur, Sankarshan (27 March 2014). "A sibling swing at succession". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
18. "Lalu's Swiss-educated son-in-law hops on Samajwadi cycle, chants growth mantra". Hindustan Times. 7 February 2017.

External links

Preceded by Lalu Prasad Yadav	Chief Minister of Bihar 1997—1999	Succeeded by President's rule
Preceded by President's rule	Chief Minister of Bihar 1999—2000	Succeeded by Nitish Kumar
Preceded by Nitish Kumar	Chief Minister of Bihar 2000—2005	Succeeded by President's rule