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Rabri Devi

Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council

Field	Value
name	Rabri Devi
image	Rabri Devi presenting a cheque for Rs. 10 crore on behalf of the State Government to the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh for the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, in New Delhi on January 04, 2005 (cropped).jpg
caption	Rabri in 2005
birth_date
birth_place	Salar Kalan, Bihar, India
residence	Hawai Adda, Patna, Bihar, India
office	Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council
term_start	14 February 2024
leader1	Nitish Kumar
predecessor	Hari Sahni
predecessor1	herself
successor1	Samrat Chaudhary
predecessor2	Sushil Modi
successor2	herself
office6	Member of Bihar Legislative Council
term_start6	7 May 2012
office8	18th Leader of the Opposition
Bihar Legislative Assembly
term_start8	20 November 2005
term_end8	23 December 2010
predecessor8	Upendra Kushwaha
successor8	Abdul Bari Siddiqui
office3	21st Chief Minister of Bihar
term_start3	11 March 2000
term_end3	6 March 2005
predecessor3	Nitish Kumar
successor3	President's rule
term_start4	9 March 1999
term_end4	2 March 2000
predecessor4	President's rule
successor4	Nitish Kumar
term_start5	25 July 1997
term_end5	11 February 1999
predecessor5	Lalu Prasad Yadav
successor5	President's rule
party	Rashtriya Janata Dal
otherparty	Janata Dal
spouse
relations	Tej Pratap Singh Yadav (son-in-law)

children	9 (including Tejashwi, Tej Pratap and Misa Bharti)
termstart1	13 April 2022
termend1	9 August 2022
termstart2	12 May 2018
termend2	23 June 2020
termstart7	11 December 1997
termend7	2 June 2000
constituency7	elected by Legislative assembly members
office9	Member of Bihar Legislative Assembly
constituency9	Raghopur
termstart9	2 June 2000
termend9	26 November 2010
predecessor9	Lalu Prasad
successor9	Satish Kumar Yadav
constituency6	elected by Legislative assembly members

Bihar Legislative Assembly](list-of-leaders-of-the-opposition-in-the-bihar-legislative-assembly)

Chiranjeev Rao (son-in-law) Sadhu Yadav (brother) Subhash Prasad Yadav (brother)

Rabri Devi (Devanagri: राबड़ी देवी, ) is an Indian politician who currently serves as the leader of the opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council. She served as the chief minister of Bihar almost continuously between 1997 to 2005; she is the first and only woman till date to have held the office. She is also served as leader of the house in legislative assembly). She is a member (MLC) of Bihar Legislative Council and previously served as the leader of the opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

A member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, she is married to Indian politician Lalu Prasad Yadav, the former chief minister of Bihar from 1990–1997.

Early life and education

Rabri was born in 1955 in Salar Kalan village, located near Mirganj in the Gopalganj district of Bihar. However, she has stated in affidavits submitted for elections that her birth year is as early as 1953. Her parents are Sib Prasad Chaudhary and Maharjia Devi. She is named after an Indian sweet as per a custom in her family. Her 3 sisters are similarly named Jalebi, Rasgulla and Paan.

She has studied only up to the fifth standard at a local school in her village. Her parents were hesitant to send their daughters to schools located far away. As a result, none of her sisters got any formal education. Prabhunath Yadav, Subhash Prasad Yadav and Sadhu Yadav are her three brothers.

Political career

Devi became the first female Chief Minister of Bihar on 25 July 1997, after her husband, incumbent chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, was forced to resign following the arrest warrant issued against him in corruption charges relating to the Fodder scam. Her appointment as the chief minister of Bihar is considered one of the most unexpected decisions in Indian political history, as she was a traditional housewife and had no prior interest in politics. She came under severe criticism and mockery, due to her illiteracy and inexperience.

She went on to rule the state until 2005. She was also the last chief minister of undivided Bihar.

Devi was elected thrice to the Bihar Vidhan Sabha from the Raghopur seat. In the 2010 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, Devi contested from two seats: Raghopur and Sonpur, but lost both in an election where the Rashtriya Janata Dal faced defeat, winning only 22 seats.

She contested from Saran in 2014 Lok Sabha election but lost to Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP.

Devi was elected unopposed to the Legislative Council.

Personal life and family

Rabri Devi married Lalu Prasad on 1 June 1973 at the age of 18 years, in an arranged marriage. Together, they have seven daughters and two sons. During her wedding, Lalu went on to demand an additional ₹5,000 as dowry from her father, which was eventually fulfilled.

Positions held

Rabri Devi has been elected 3 times as MLA and 4 times as MLC.

#	From	To
1.	1997	2000	RJD
2.	2000	2005	RJD
3.	Feb 2005	Oct 2005	RJD
4.	2005	2010	RJD
5.	2012	2018	RJD
6.	2018	2024	RJD
7.	2024	Present	RJD

References

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the tags, and the template below

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the tags, and the template below.

References

http://ceobihar.nic.in/election/GeneralElection2014/PC20/S04-Bihar-20--May-2014%20(%20GEN%20)-3-RABRI%20DEVI.PDF {{Bare URL PDF. (July 2025)
https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s3285e19f20beded7d215102b49d5c09a0/uploads/2023/05/2023051796.pdf {{Bare URL PDF. (July 2025)
"Smt. Rabri Devi". RJD.
(7 February 2005). "Rabri Devi". Hindustan Times.
(19 April 2004). "M. J. Akbar: Laloo steals Congress seats in Bihar for sweet Rabri". Gulf News.
"rediff.com: The Rediff Interview/ Rabri Devi". Rediff.com.
(2006-12-18). "Profile: Laloo to the Prasad Yadav". BBC.
"rediff.com: The Rediff Interview/ Rabri Devi". Rediff.com.
Ahmed, Farz. (1997-08-11). "Dragged from the kitchen to Bihar Assembly, Rabri Devi learns politics fast : Cover Story - India Today". [[India Today]].
Mishra, Dipak. (2017-02-17). "Proxy rule lessons from Bihar". [[The Telegraph (Kolkata).
"RJD Mobbed: Rabri Devi Loses Both Her Seats".
(24 November 2010). "Rabri loses in both seats". The Hindu.
Vaibhav, Aditya. (2014-05-17). "Election results 2014: JD(U), RJD decimated in Bihar". The Times of India.
"Rabri Devi were elected unopposed to the Legislative Council". Prabhat Khabar.
"Rabri Devi: Age, Biography, Education, Husband, Caste, Net Worth & More - Oneindia". OneIndia.
"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".
Thakur, Sankarshan. (27 March 2014). "A sibling swing at succession". The Telegraph.
(19 April 2018). "No surprises in U.P., Bihar Council polls". The Hindu.
(14 March 2024). "CM Nitish Kumar, RJD leader Rabri Devi among 11 elected unopposed to Bihar Legislative Council". The Hindu.
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