Rabri Devi Yadav
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Vidhan Parishad
In office
13 Apr 2022 – 09 Aug 2022
Preceded byHerself
Succeeded bySamrat Chaudhary
In office
12 May 2018 – 23 Jun 2020
Preceded bySushil Modi
Succeeded byHerself
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Vidhan Sabha
In office
20 Nov 2005 – 23 Dec 2010
Preceded byUpendra Kushwaha
Succeeded byAbdul Bari Siddiqui
21st Chief Minister of Bihar
In office
11 Mar 2000 – 06 Mar 2005
Governor• V. C. Pande
• M R Jois
• Ved Prakash Marwah (acting)
• Buta Singh
• Gopalkrishna Gandhi
Preceded byNitish Kumar
Succeeded byPresident's rule
In office
09 Mar 1999 – 02 Mar 2000
GovernorSunder Singh Bhandari
Preceded byPresident's rule
Succeeded byNitish Kumar
In office
25 Jul 1997 – 11 Feb 1999
GovernorAkhlaqur Rahman Kidwai
Preceded byLalu Prasad Yadav
Succeeded byPresident's rule
Personal details
Born (1955-01-01) 1 January 1955 (age 69)
Salar Kalan village, Gopalganj, Bihar, India
Political partyRashtriya Janata Dal
Spouse
​
(m. 1973)​
RelationsTej Pratap Singh Yadav (son-in-law)
Chiranjeev Rao (son-in-law)
Sadhu Yadav (brother)
Subhash Prasad Yadav (brother)
Children9 (including Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav and Misa Bharti)
Parents
  • Shiv Prasad Chaudhary (father)
  • Maharjia Devi (mother)
ResidencePatna
Websiterjd.co.in/smt-rabri-devi/

Rabri Devi Yadav (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 formerly served as the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Vidhan Parishad.

Rabri is married to Indian politician Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997) and former Railway Minister of India (2004-2009) and mother of Tejashwi Yadav, current Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and former Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly.

Early life

Rabri 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

Rabri 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. She went on to rule the state till 2005.[3][4]

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

Devi was elected thrice to Bihar Vidhan Sabha from Raghopur seat. In 2010 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, Rabri 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]

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[8][9] and inexperience.[10]

Personal life and family

See also: Political families of Bihar

Rabri 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 2 sons and 7 daughters. [11][12][13][14][15][16] Her younger son Tejashwi Yadav is the current and 5th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.

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

Rabri 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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 31 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  8. ^ "rediff.com: The Rediff Interview/ Rabri Devi". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2005. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Profile: Laloo to the Prasad Yadav". BBC. 18 December 2006. Archived from the original on 22 February 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  10. ^ "rediff.com: The Rediff Interview/ Rabri Devi". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2005. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  11. ^ "Lalu paid off a debt to his wife handsomely". DNA. 19 November 2013.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "Sons in Bihar cabinet, daughters wed to Mulayam kin - sprawling Lalu family tree spans party lines". The Print. 24 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Rabri Devi". Hindustan Times. 7 February 2005. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ Thakur, Sankarshan (27 March 2014). "A sibling swing at succession". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  17. ^ "Lalu's Swiss-educated son-in-law hops on Samajwadi cycle, chants growth mantra". Hindustan Times. 7 February 2017.

External links

Preceded byLalu Prasad Yadav Chief Minister of Bihar 1997—1999 Succeeded byPresident's rule Preceded byPresident's rule Chief Minister of Bihar 1999—2000 Succeeded byNitish Kumar Preceded byNitish Kumar Chief Minister of Bihar 2000—2005 Succeeded byPresident's rule
Chief Ministers of Bihar
Authority control databases
Categories