Rabri Devi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rabri Devi

• Rabri Devi is an Indian politician who is the wife of Lalu Prasad Yadav, a veteran politician from Bihar. She is also known for being the first woman Chief Minister of Bihar; she served in office thrice from 1997 to 2005.

• Rabri Devi grew up in an affluent family in Selar Kalan village in Gopalganj, Bihar. Her father was a big landlord who also owned a ration shop. ^[18]Rediff

• There is an interesting story behind her name. It was a custom in her family to ask the woman what the first thing she wanted to eat just after the painful labours of childbirth. Her mother asked for ‘Rabri’ (an Indian sweet) and thus was the first woman chief minister of Bihar named. Similarly, all the three sisters of Rabri Devi were named after her mother’s cravings for a variety of sweets; the names of her sisters are Paan, Rasgulla, and Jalebi. ^[19]Gulf News

• While growing up in Selar Kalan village along with three sisters and three brothers, Rabri Devi attended a local school that was two to three miles away from her home, where she studied up to the fifth standard. Her village didn’t have a secondary school. According to Rabri Devi, none of her sisters attended school as they grew up in a village where parents didn’t wish to send their girls so far. In an interview, while talking about her education, she said,
  

  I have studied till the fifth standard. Even today, our village doesn’t have a secondary school. The school I went to was quite far away, two to three miles away. In villages, parents don’t wish to send their girls so far. None of my sisters went to school. But my brothers received their education because they could go out. I feel that it was because of the absence of a school in my village that I remained illiterate.”

• In 1973, the 14-year-old Rabri Devi got married to the 25-year-old Lalu Prasad Yadav. According to Rabri Devi, at the time of marriage, Lalu Yadav’s family was very poor, while her family was quite well off. In an interview, while talking about this, she said,
  

  Our parents were quite well off. So my father got me married to a poor guy intentionally. He looked only at his character. He didn’t even own a house, but my father said he would pay for my expenses. My father gave me five bighas of land. I still have that land title with me. Lalooji was studying in Patna at that time, it was important to him.”

• According to Rabri Devi, it was only after a year of marriage that she saw Lalu Prasad Yadav for the first time when she visited her in-laws’ house in Patna. She revealed this in an interview. She said,
  

  I saw him when I came to Patna — that was a year after our marriage. We got married in 1973. In villages, brides do not leave their father’s house after marriage. In our case, I came to my in-laws’ home after a year.”

• In an interview, when asked if her father had given any dowry to Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi said,
  

  Whatever things are given in marriages, was given to him. In a tilak ceremony, he asked for Rs 5000 and my father gave him accordingly.”

• On the very first night when Rabri Devi visited Lalu Yadav’s house in Patna, he was sent to jail. While recalling the incident, she revealed this in an interview. She said,
  

  On the very first night when I came to his house, he went to jail. Imagine my plight! I was pained. I was feeling trapped. I asked my father, ‘where have you sent me?’ My husband went to jail frequently. During our meetings in jail, our relatives would remain present. We were living along with his four brothers in a small quarter in Patna’s veterinary college at that time.”

• After her arrival in Patna, she lived in a one-room chaprasi quarter of the Patna Veterinary College that housed her husband, his elder brother, and his wife, and more than half a dozen children. ^[20]Vitasta

  

• After marriage, the couple went on to have nine children; seven daughters, and two sons. In an interview, when asked what did she feel when people talk about her large family, she replied,
  

  There are families with 16 or 20 children. Why don’t people mind their own children? The people who joke about the size of our family are not even able to take proper care of one or two children. Though I have nine children I am taking proper care of them and am running the state too. This doesn’t suit people. They are jealous. They are not able to digest the fact that an illiterate mother is occupying the khursi. They are ridiculing me because I have power. Is it a crime to produce children?”

• Except one, all her children were born before Lalu Prasad Yadav became the Chief Minister of Bihar for the first time in 1990.

  

• After marriage and giving birth to nine children, Rabri Devi had become a typical homemaker who would keep herself busy in handling her home and children. By the time Lalu Yadav had become the epicenter of Bihar politics, Rabri Yadav still remained an aloof homemaker. In an interview, while talking about this, she said,
  

  I never went out of the house. I handled my home and my children. I hated going out of the house. I never had the desire to go out. My husband wanted to take me out to the bazaar and to marriages. But I always refused to go along. It’s a mindset. It’s in my nature. I don’t have any close friends. I prefer to live alone.”

• In 1997, after Lalu Yadav had to step down from the post of the Chief Minister of Bihar following corruption charges in the multi-crore Fodder Scam, the 38-year-old Rabri Devi took the oath as the Chief Minister, becoming the first woman Chief Minister of the state; her elevation to the post surprised everyone. Although her ascendancy attracted criticism from various corners, it was taken by many as the rise of women’s power in Bihar.

• Since Rabri Devi’s ascendancy as the Chief Minister of Bihar, the opposition leaders had often alleged that Lalu continued to rule Bihar with his school dropout wife as a proxy. However, Rabri Devi always condemned this allegation and considered herself as the one chosen by the party members and not alone by her husband.

• In her initial years as the CM, Rabri Devi faced criticism for her lack of political acumen and being just a face of Lalu Yadav. The opposition leaders often ridicule her for her ineffective governance. Once, while condemning Rabri Devi for being a puppet of Lalu Yadav, a BJP leader said,
  

  She has always been in the shadow of RJD chief. Till today, he calls the shots. Rabri is not a leader. There can’t be two leaders in the party especially when there is a process underway to pass the baton to Tejashwi.”

• Amid all the hue and cry, Rabri Devi went on to serve as the Chief Minister of Bihar whose tenure lasted 91 months across three non-contiguous terms, and with the passage of time, she earned due fame among her party workers. According to Shiv Chandra Ram, an RJD MLA,
  

  Lalu ji is there but we feel Rabri ji is our guardian.”

• Rabri Devi is often termed as the one who had been “dragged from her kitchen to cabinet.” According to Rabri Devi, she never wanted to join politics as she enjoyed being just a homemaker. In an interview, while talking about becoming the Chief Minister of Bihar, she said,
  

  The party men made me the CM. They told me, ‘ Chaliye (let’s go).’ I asked them, ‘where am I supposed to go?’ They said I have to reach Raj Bhavan for the swearing-in ceremony. I clung to my chair and I refused to go. I asked them ‘why should I go?’ My party men said they now consider me their neta. I argued that I am only a housewife. I work within my home. I can only look after my children, I can’t manage the state. But they dragged me to Raj Bhavan. We are not greedy.”

• Rabri Devi is probably the only Chief Minister who has never gone abroad as she doesn’t have a passport. It was revealed by Rabri Devi’s lawyer to a Delhi court in 2018 when the court granted her bail in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) scam case lodged by the CBI and asked to surrender her passport. ^[21]Rediff According to RJD leader Shakti Singh Yadav,
  

  Rabri Devi has never visited a foreign country despite the fact that most of her family members went abroad many times. It may not be known to people.”

• As the Chief Minister of Bihar, Rabri Devi served nearly eight years, a year longer than her husband, Lalu Prasad Yadav, did. ^[22]Rediff

• This housewife-turned-politician is known for her down-to-earth approach in public life, and even as the Chief Minister of Bihar, she was often photographed cooking in the kitchen and serving food to her husband, Lalu, and their children. ^[23]Rediff

  

• The 2021 Indian Hindi-language drama streaming television series Maharani is believed to be loosely based on Rabri Devi’s life; however, Sohum Shah, the creator of this web series, in an interview, said that the comparison was expected, but it was a fictional story. The web series starred Huma Qureshi, Amit Sial, and Vineet Kumar in lead roles.