Rabri Devi may vacate official bungalow after month of Kharmas

After getting a notice from the State Building Construction Department on November 25, the videos showing pick-up vans carrying household belongings and flower pots making exit from the official bungalow 10, Circular Road of former Chief Minister Rabri Devi which she has been retaining since 2005 and living along with her family, suggest the vacation process has started quietly.

Ms. Devi had, earlier, been allotted 39, Hardinge Road bungalow in her capacity as Leader of Opposition in State Legislative Council but, the RJD leaders had said that Ms. Devi would not vacate the present bungalow “come what may”.

Party sources, meanwhile, said that Ms. Devi may shift her residence after the inauspicious month of Kharmas in January. Ms. Devi, whose ailing husband Lalu Prasad who is also a former Chief Minister of the State and party Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, lives along other family members at the bungalow. Recently, it had come to light that Mr. Prasad has been constructing a palatial house at Mahuabagh locality in Patna and party sources said he is likely to shift his residential address there and not to the allotted official residence of his wife. Pictures of the under construction home has gone viral on social media.

Earlier, RJD State president Mangani Lal Mandal had asserted that Ms. Devi would not vacate her present bungalow where she has been living from the last two decades “at any cost”. Mr. Mandal also had called the government’s decision as “an act of political malice against party chief Lau Prasad”. Their (Mr. Prasad and Ms. Rabri Devi) Singapore based daughter Rohini Acharya too in a post on social media had accused the Nitish Kumar government for “targeting her family to insult Lalu Prasad, messiah of millions” and also urged the government to “respect Lalu Prasad’s political stature and health”.

However, late at night on December 25, three-four pick-up vans carrying household belongings and flowerpots were captured on videos while making exit from Ms. Rabri Devi’s house which triggered speculations that “the process of vacating the bungalow may have started quietly”.

On November 25, the Building Construction Department of The NDA government had served a notice to Ms. Devi to vacate her bungalow though, no timeline was given The State Building Construction Department Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said that the new allotment for Ms. Devi has “enough space and is designated for high-raking officials”.

The government has also served A notice to the estranged elder son of Mr. Prasad and Ms. Devi, Tej Pratap Yadav who lost the last assembly elections from Mahua constituency in Vaishali district which he had contested as his own party Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD) candidate. Mr. Yadav has been asked to vacate his government –allotted residence 26-M Strand Road which has now been allotted to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ ST) Welfare Minister Lakhendra Kumar Raushan.

“Let’s see when and how much time they take to vacate their official bungalows…they have to vacate as it’s a government notice served on them as per rules and regulations”, a State BJP leader said on the condition of anonymity.