On the warm Tuesday afternoon of March 9, 1999 when Rabri Devi drove to the Raj Bhavan to swear in as Chief Minister of Bihar, it was nothing but a celebration for democracy. Rabri Devi was no longer just the woman from Gopalganj who got married at the age of 17. She was the woman who led the government of Bihar before she could properly spell “Government”.
Bihar Legislative Council, even on best of its days, is not the most decorous place; at its worst, it is certainly not the place for a woman fighting to save the left dignity of her husband amidst the turbulence of parliamentary politics. Unfortunately, like most housewives in India, the housewife of 10 Deshratna Marg too was left with no choice.
With the presence of leaders like Ramswaroop Paswan and then leader of opposition Sushil Modi, Rabri Devi’s first speech in the assembly stretched the definition of brevity and valour. She finished her address in less than a minute and sat composed in her pink saree as leader of opposition Sushil Modi began with his vitriolic attack against the “scamster” who made a mockery of democracy.
To the daughter of Jagmato Devi, each word against her husband was nothing less than an assault on her mother’s teachings on how to be an ‘ideal housewife’. Finally, she could not take it any longer and stood on her feet, she started speaking with the passion and might be derived from the principals of her mother and said, “I always considered you as my elder brother.” Modi, who was also a fellow student leader with Laloo during the JP movement was unscathed by it. What Rabri said did not qualify as a perfect political reply but it did send a message that she is here to stay and she is here to stay as the chief minister of Bihar and not an underdog.
Madam Chief Minister had now begun to enjoy and to Modi’s appeal of throwing the thief out of her house, she said, “I will send him to your house.” All the 324 members of Legislative Council exploded in laughter and staggered Modi could only say, “My house is very small to accommodate him, union coal minister Kanti Singh has a bigger house.”
Modi’s parting argument was below the belt but Rabri Devi was unflappable. The mother of nine knew by now that she has proved her mettle. She had demonstrated that she was way more than just a puppet chief minister. Charged with confidence, after the house resoundingly voted in favor of her, she told the journalists, “I will do as my husband commands but I will not follow any of his wrong orders.” This was seemingly a ‘statement’ for a heavyhand like Lalu Yadav from a political infant and house wife of 10 Deshratna Marg.
29 July 1997. A day before Rabri Devi’s husband was going to surrender before the CBI court the air for housewife of 10 Deshratna Marg and leader of Legislative Council of Bihar was filled with responsibility and tension. Rabri Devi had to convince her children that their father is not a thief and the chief minister had to convince her MLCs that the government is in safe hands.
Rightly predicting the actions of CBI, she summoned key officials and took things into her hands. Then Chief Secretary BP Verma briefed the CM about the functioning of various departments while 1 Anne Marg was going through fits of fear and fury.
Next day at 10:30 AM, she came down with her brothers, few trusted officials and her husband Lalu Yadav to bid the final farewell. She seemed to be expressionless but there was an uncanny calm on her face. Throughout the day she kept an eye on the proceedings of the court while RJD supporters burned Patna. By night, Lalu Yadav was in his comfortable cell of Bihar military police barracks.
Next morning, recovering from the trauma, she attended the cabinet meeting where she said almost nothing. In the words of Chief Secretary Verma, “The chief minister conducted the business of administration confidently and wherever she found any difficulty, did not hesitate to seek the advice of officials. Rabri Devi is fast emerging as iron lady of Bihar, cool as a person and tough as an administrator.”
After Lalu Yadav, brothers of Rabri Devi, Subhash and Sadhu Yadav had paramount influence over the chief minister. She even went to the extent of calling them her ears and eyes. Sadhu Yadav who was a known bahubali of Bihar, went on to become didi’s shadow.
Influence of these two brothers was evident in the jumbo cabinet of 74 ministers in which there was no member from Gopalganj, home district of Rabri and Lalu Yadav. This invited resentment from ministers like Lalu-appointed Jagdanand (Water Resources Minister), Mahavir Prasad (Health Minister), Iliyas Hussain (Road Construction Minister) and several others. To this, Subhash Yadav said, “What’s the need when CM herself is from Gopalganj?” While few claim that this was done to avoid the emergence of an alternative power centre, the existence of Bhaiya Raj too can certainly not be avoided.
In politics nothing is predictable. Jhanki Ramachandran, MGR’s widow was worsted by the electorate in 1989 and Lakshmi Parvati’s claim to N.T. Rama Rao’s inheritance was rejected by Andhra Pradesh. But when Rabri Devi went village to village and told people how her husband is a victim of political vendetta, Bihar accepted its daughter with open arms.
28 November 2018. Leader of opposition and vice president of RJD Rabri Devi sat on dharna in the Bihar Legislative Council to protest against the suspension of five of her MLCs.
Housewife of 10 Deshratna Marg has evolved from the 17-year-old bride of Lalu Yadav, mother of nine, sister of Subhash and Sadhu Yadav, daughter of Jagmato Devi to the first and only woman CM of Bihar with three non-contiguous terms. She has evolved into the guardian who is keeping her house from falling apart amidst the divorce of her son Tej Pratap Yadav and also the one who is keeping RJD from falling apart amidst the divorce of Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar.