Rabri Devi Yadav (born 1 January 1955) is an Indian politician who formerly served three terms as the
Chief Minister of Bihar, the first and only woman till date to have held the office. She is a
Member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of
Bihar Legislative Council
Bihar Vidhan Parishad, also known as Bihar Legislative Council, is the upper house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India.
History
A new Province of Bihar and Odisha was created by the Government of India on 12 Dece ...
(MLC), and also has previously served multiple terms as the
Leader of Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
.
Rabri is married to Indian politician
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Railway Minister of India (2004-2009), and a former Member of Parliam ...
, former
Chief Minister of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
(1990-1997) and former
Railway Minister of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
(2004-2009) and mother of
Tejashwi Yadav
Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (born 9 November 1989) is an Indian politician, former cricketer, and the current Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, in office since August 2022. He also serves as the Minister of Health, Minister of Road Construction and Pu ...
, current
Deputy Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...
of Bihar and former
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
in
Bihar Legislative Assembly
The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the Bihar Legislature where the first elections were held in 1952.
The total strength of membership in the Assembly was 331, including one nominated ...
.
Early life
Rabri Devi was born on 1 January 1955 in Salar Kalan village near
Mirganj of
Gopalganj district,
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
. Her parents are Shiv Prasad Chaudhary and Maharjia Devi.
She is named after an
Indian sweet
This is a list of Indian sweets and desserts, also called ''mithai'', a significant element in Indian cuisine. Indians are known for their unique taste and experimental behavior when it comes to food. Many Indian desserts are fried foods made wi ...
as per a custom in her family. Her 3 sisters are similarly named
Jalebi
''Jalebi'' (, , , Urdu: جلیبی, , , si, පැණි වළලු, ), is a popular sweet snack in south and west Asia, Africa, and Mauritius. It goes by many names, including ''jilapi'', ''zelepi'','' jilebi'', '' jilipi'', ''zulbia'', ...
,
Rasgulla
Rasgulla, also known as rasagola, rosogola or rosogolla, is a syrupy dessert popular in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. It is made from ball-shaped dumplings of chhena and semolina dough, cooked in light sugar syrup made of suga ...
and
Paan.
Prabhunath Yadav,
Subhash Prasad Yadav
Subhash Prasad Yadav (born 27 March 1967) is an Indian politician belonging to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) from Gopalganj in Bihar. He was a Member of Parliament representing Bihar in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house from 2004 to 2010.
Subhas ...
and
Sadhu Yadav
Anirudh Prasad Yadav, better known as Sadhu Yadav (born 5 July 1967), is an Indian politician and founder of Garib Janta Dal (Secular). He has served in 14th Lok Sabha as MP of Gopalganj from 2004 to 2009 as Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candid ...
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.
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
The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: ''National People's Party'') is an Indian political party, based in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav.
The party's support base has tradit ...
faced defeat, winning only 22 seats.
She contested from
Saran in
2014 Lok Sabha election
General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...
but lost to
Rajiv Pratap Rudy
Rajiv Pratap Rudy (born 30 March 1962) is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party, and a Member of Parliament representing Saran (Lok Sabha constituency) in Bihar, India.
In 2014. Rudy became the Minister of State (Independent C ...
of BJP.
Criticism
Devi's appointment as the
Chief Minister of Bihar is considered one of the most unexpected and awkward decisions
in Indian political history, as she was a traditional housewife and had no interest nor any prior experience in politics.
She came under severe satirical criticism and stiff opposition, because of her
illiteracy
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...
and inexperience.
Personal life & Family
Rabri Devi married
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Railway Minister of India (2004-2009), and a former Member of Parliam ...
on 1 June 1973 at the age of 17 years, in an
arranged marriage
Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...
, and they went on to have 2 sons and 7 daughters.
Her younger son
Tejashwi Yadav
Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (born 9 November 1989) is an Indian politician, former cricketer, and the current Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, in office since August 2022. He also serves as the Minister of Health, Minister of Road Construction and Pu ...
is the current and 5th
Deputy Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...
of Bihar.
* elder son:
Tej Pratap Yadav
Tej Pratap Yadav (born 16 April 1988) is an Indian politician and cabinet minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Department in the Government of Bihar. He was MLA of Bihar Legislative Assembly from the Mahua constituency as a memb ...
* younger son:
Tejashwi Yadav
Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (born 9 November 1989) is an Indian politician, former cricketer, and the current Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, in office since August 2022. He also serves as the Minister of Health, Minister of Road Construction and Pu ...
* eldest daughter:
Misa Bharti
Misa Bharti (born 22 May 1976) is an Indian politician from the state of Bihar and the daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi. In 2014, she unsuccessfully contested the Pataliputra Lok Sabha constituency and lost to RJD rebel Ram Kripa ...
* 2nd daughter: Rohini Acharya Yadav
* 3rd daughter: Chanda Yadav
* 4th daughter: Ragini Yadav - married to Rahul Yadav,
Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as well. With a ...
leader
* 5th daughter: Hema Yadav
* 6th daughter: Anushka Yadav (Dhannu) - married to
Chiranjeev Rao
Chiranjeev Rao Yadav is an Indian politician and MLA in the Haryana Legislative Assembly. He was elected to the Rewari assembly constituency in the 2019 election as a member of the Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress ...
* youngest daughter: Raj Lakshmi Yadav - married to
Tej Pratap Singh Yadav
Tej Pratap Singh Yadav (born 21 November 1987) is an Indian politician who was a Member of Parliament in the Indian Lok Sabha, where he has represented the Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh from 2014 to 2019 as a member of the Samajwadi Party.
Early ...
Note: Rahul Yadav is son of Jitendra Yadav, former
MLC from the
Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as well. With a ...
. Jitendra is the nephew of former MP
D. P. Yadav.
Positions held
Rabri Devi Yadav has been elected 3 times as
MLA.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Rabri
Living people
Chief Ministers of Bihar
Rashtriya Janata Dal politicians
Finance Ministers of Bihar
Women chief ministers of Indian states
United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election
Leaders of the Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly
Women members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly
Yadav family of Bihar
20th-century Indian women politicians
20th-century Indian politicians
21st-century Indian women politicians
21st-century Indian politicians
Members of the Bihar Legislative Council
Members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly
1956 births