Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and her husband, RJD president Lalu Prasad, have moved out of the government bungalow at 10 Circular Road and into their privately owned residence in Kautilya Nagar in west Patna, bringing to an end the family's nearly two-decade stay at the official accommodation, according to RJD sources.
Situated next to the residences of the Bihar Governor and the Chief Minister, the bungalow at 10 Circular Road had long served as the RJD's de facto camp office, with Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi conducting party affairs from the well-known address. The government residence has now been allotted to Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Resources Minister Nand Kishore Ram.
People familiar with the developments within the RJD said Rabri had declined to move into the government-allotted bungalow at 39 Hardinge Road, citing several concerns, including its smaller size and the lack of furnishings for incoming occupants. Political circles in Patna have also long associated the Hardinge Road residence with a reputation for being “unlucky” for those who live there.
RJD functionaries said Rabri, who also serves as the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council, shifted all her belongings to the new residence. “Yes, both the RJD chief and Rabri Devi moved to their Kautilya Nagar residence during the day on Thursday. The 10 Circular Road bungalow is now empty although we have put a lock on the main gate since nobody from the building construction department had turned up till today to take possession of the house. We have also written to the building construction department to give us the inventory item list and charge register,” said Bhola Yadav, RJD’s national general secretary and a close aide of the RJD chief.
The move follows weeks of confrontation between the NDA government and the RJD over the government accommodation. Rabri had initially declined to vacate the bungalow after receiving a notice directing her to relocate to the residence at 39 Hardinge Road. As her security cover was reduced, party workers gathered outside the bungalow to act as her security. She described the government's action as vendetta and challenged the building and construction department to forcibly remove her from the premises.
She later agreed to vacate the bungalow, and supporters were seen shifting her belongings. Even then, she maintained that she would not relocate to the government-allotted residence and would instead move either to her son Tejashwi Yadav’s residence at 1, Polo Road or to the family's house in Kautilya Nagar. According to RJD insiders, the decision by Rabri and Lalu to vacate 10 Circular Road was influenced by a desire to avoid giving the BJP and JD(U) an opportunity to accuse the RJD's first family of preferring palatial homes and maintaining multiple residences.
Rabri Devi was allotted the bungalow at 10 Circular Road in 2005 by the Nitish Kumar government after her party lost power. Since then, the residence had remained the family's home and evolved into the principal venue for key organisational decisions within the RJD.
There was no significant reaction from BJP or JD(U) leaders over the relocation by the time this report was filed.
BJP state spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel said Rabri Devi had already been allotted a government bungalow by the building and construction department in her capacity as Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, but added that choosing to move into her own house was entirely her personal decision.
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