In the year 2005, on 22 November, the results of Bihar Assembly elections are declared and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is continuously struggling with its downfall, is out of power. National Democratic Alliance (NDA) gets 143 seats. Janata Dal United (JDU) becomes the largest party with 88 seats and Nitish Kumar becomes the Chief Minister. Rabri Devi had resigned after the March 2005 elections, but due to the hung assembly and subsequent dissolution of the assembly, President’s rule was imposed in Bihar. When elections were held again in 2005, Rabri Devi had lost power, but with giving up power, she had to give up one more thing and that was the bungalow.
After Lalu Yadav became the Chief Minister in 1990, the Chief Minister’s residence on Ane Marg was with Lalu-Rabri. After resigning from the post of Chief Minister, now he had to vacate this bungalow under any circumstances. But Rabri Devi was elected MLA from Raghopur and also became the Leader of Opposition in the House. In this capacity he was allotted a residence at 10 Circular Road. Even then there was a big controversy regarding vacating the Chief Minister’s residence. Today, when notice has been issued to Rabri Devi to vacate 10 Circular Road, the controversy is deepening. 10 Circular Road has been witness to many memories and political events for the Lalu-Rabri family, so today we will talk about it. We will also tell why this bungalow is being vacated and how this residence had become the most important center of Bihar politics in the last two decades.
Bungalow had to be vacated in 2005 also
After Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister, Rabri Devi was allotted 10 Circular Road residence. This was the same bungalow in which his brother Sadhu Yadav lived. One of the most popular and luxurious bungalows after the Chief Minister’s residence. That’s why that house was with Sadhu Yadav. In March 2005, the very next day after the imposition of President’s rule, Sadhu Yadav and Subhash Yadav received notices to vacate the bungalows which they had illegally occupied. As soon as he came to power and Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister, Lalu Yadav also had to vacate his 10 Desh Ratna Marg residence. After Lalu Yadav, that house was allotted to Nitish Kumar’s close friend and then Education Minister Vrushin Patel.
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Lalu Yadav was MP from 2004 to 2009 and Railway Minister in UPA One, hence he was not allotted any accommodation in Patna. At that time there was no such provision for former Chief Ministers. He was re-elected as an MP in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, hence his official residence remains in Delhi. On September 30, 2013, the CBI special court sentenced him to 5 years imprisonment in the fodder scam case. After going to jail on 3 October 2013, his membership of Lok Sabha ended. After this, he was never allotted a bungalow as a former Chief Minister, although the provisions for former Chief Ministers were changed in 2010, about which we will talk in detail later. Whenever he was out on bail, his address remained 10 Circular Road i.e. Rabri residence.
Now let’s return to the story. After Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister, on 27 November 2005, the Building Construction Department sent a notice to Rabri Devi asking her to vacate the Chief Minister’s residence as soon as possible. But due to Kharmas she was not vacating the house. The second reason was that they had to renovate 10 Circular Road, whereas Sadhu Yadav already lived there.
10 Circular Road becomes the center of RJD
On December 13, the building construction department sent a second notice, giving a deadline of one week and saying that if they did not vacate, they would be forcibly evicted. Monazir Hasan was made the Building Minister in the NDA government. He said that he does not want any political controversy but everyone will have to follow the rules. Lalu Yadav was very angry with the words used in the notice and accused Nitish Kumar of taking vindictive action.
Well, when all the renovations were completed, it was said that Rabri Devi would shift to the new residence only after Kharmas. People avoid starting any auspicious work during Kharmas. Rabri Devi shifted to 10 Circular Road only after Kharmas ended on 14 January 2006. Meanwhile, one of the reasons for not putting much pressure on the government was that Nitish Kumar also did not want to shift to the Chief Minister’s residence during Kharmas.
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After Kharmas, Nitish Kumar shifted to Chief Minister’s residence and Rabri Devi shifted to 10 Circular Road. After this, 10 Circular Road remained the center of many political developments in Bihar, more importantly, Lalu Yadav’s two sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap received their political education in this residence. This is the same residence where Lal Yadav has been hosting traditional Dahi-Chuda feast on the day of Makar Sankranti. In which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also participated. Nitish Kumar has also attended the Iftar party organized here. Whenever Nitish Kumar separated from NDA and formed the government with RJD, Nitish Kumar kept coming here.
But the most important day among them was 14 January 2017. In 2015, the Grand Alliance had registered a big victory when Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar came together. Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister and Tejashwi Yadav became the Deputy Chief Minister. But as soon as Nitish Kumar shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Prakash Parv on January 5, 2017, the discussion intensified that Nitish Kumar may soon leave RJD. One reason for this was that Narendra Modi had praised Nitish Kumar a lot. But this 10-day long discussion was put to an end by Nitish Kumar when he attended the Dahi-Chuda banquet organized at 10 Circular Road Rabri residence. Lalu Yadav applied curd tilak to Nitish Kumar and said that there is no dispute in the grand alliance. Nitish Kumar also said that the Grand Alliance is as strong as ever and he will work with Lalu Yadav for the development of Bihar.
Iftar party and Nitish Kumar backfired
In 2018, when Lalu Yadav’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav got married, the entire management was being run from this residence of Rabri Devi. Many big leaders of the country including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar attended the wedding ceremony held at the Veterinary College Ground. But the most talked about meeting of Nitish Kumar at Rabri residence was the Iftar party on 22 April 2022. Nitish Kumar was then the Chief Minister and Tejashwi Yadav was the Leader of Opposition. Tejashwi Yadav had come outside Rabri residence to receive Nitish Kumar. On this day, Lalu Yadav got bail in the Doranda fodder scam and Lalu family organized an Iftar party to celebrate this. Nitish Kumar met Lalu family and many senior leaders of RJD during the Iftar party. Responding to this, Nitish Kumar said that his presence at the Iftar party has nothing to do with politics. He said that he also organizes an Iftar party, in which he invites everyone. However, this Iftar party was a clear message to BJP that all options are still open for Nitish Kumar. Within just three months, this meeting bore fruit and in the first week of August 2022, Nitish Kumar separated from the NDA. On August 10, 2022, once again Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister and Tejashwi Yadav became the Deputy Chief Minister.
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After this, due to formation of India Block, cabinet expansion or other reasons, Nitish Kumar kept coming and going to 10 Circular Road. Until Nitish Kumar once again separated from the Grand Alliance on 28 January 2024. Nitish Kumar also has a relation with 10 Circular Road.
Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have also come to this residence. This year, on January 20, 2025, Rahul Gandhi had reached 10 Circular Road to meet Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi. During this, Tejashwi Yadav gave him a tour of Rabri residence and also showed him the cows and goats tied inside the residence. The most special identity of Lalu Yadav’s bungalow is that you will definitely see animals there and there are many such memories, which are related to 10 Circular Road of Lalu family.
Why do you have to vacate the bungalow?
But after the formation of the new government, why is Rabri Devi being made to vacate this residence? Is the only reason for this political? So it is not so. In August 2016, the Supreme Court had given a decision, in which it had said that former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh cannot be given bungalows for life. Ex-Chief Minister’s Residence Allotment Rules, 1997 were considered wrong by the Supreme Court. After which, in May 2018, the Uttar Pradesh government had sent notices to ND Tiwari, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Kalyan Singh, Mayawati, Rajnath Singh and Akhilesh Yadav to vacate the bungalow.
On the lines of Uttar Pradesh, a law was made in Bihar also. Bihar Special Security Group Act 2000. In 2010, Nitish government made an amendment in it. Under the amendment, in view of the security of former Chief Ministers, it was talked about providing them a free bungalow in Patna and a special security team. The reasoning behind this amendment was that former Chief Ministers may be in danger from extremist and terrorist organizations.
But Patna High Court, taking suo moto i.e. suo motu cognizance, gave a decision on 19 February 2019. Rejecting this amendment, the bench of the then Chief Justice AP Shahi and Justice Anjana Mishra said, ‘There is no such provision in the Constitution that any elected representative can claim or demand any kind of facility or cost after leaving the post. This kind of claim appears parasitical. In our opinion this has nothing to do with security. This is more to maintain lost status.
Nitish also had to leave the bungalow
After this decision, Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi, Jagannath Mishra, Satish Prasad Singh and Jitan Ram Manjhi, as former Chief Ministers, were no longer entitled to get a government bungalow for life. The Supreme Court had already given its verdict on this in the case of Uttar Pradesh. Following the order of Patna High Court, Nitish Kumar himself had to vacate his bungalow at 7 Circular Road, which was allotted to him in 2014 as an ex-CM. So we are telling you a technical aspect of housing politics. When the decision of Nitish government was overturned by Patna High Court and after that order, he had to leave his residence also.
Now coming to the latest controversy. Rabri Devi has been allotted 39 Harding Road residence as the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council. He has been allotted this residence in his capacity as an MLC. Joint Secretary of Building Construction Department, Shiv Ranjan has issued this notice. This time the building construction department is with Nitish Kumar’s very special minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary. 39 Harding Road is also a luxurious bungalow. Where there are about 10 rooms and two big halls on two floors above and below. Its grandeur may be a little more or less than 10 Circular Road, but the Building Construction Department has the full right to allot bungalows to the leaders in a new way. As a former Chief Minister, a bungalow cannot be allotted to anyone.
Many times, the government vacating or changing the bungalows of opposition leaders is seen as a power show off or a power practice. At present Rashtriya Janata Dal is looking at him in the same way. RJD state president Mangani Lal Mandal said, ‘Rabri Devi will not vacate this house. Nitish Kumar has been the Chief Minister for twenty years but he never took this decision. This decision of the government is a conspiracy to humiliate Lalu Yadav.
Lalu Yadav’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav and Rohini Acharya, who had abandoned the family, were also seen cornering the government. Tej Pratap wrote, ‘We fell but we should not have fallen so low. History is waiting for Nitish Kumar with soot in both hands. Rohini Acharya said, ‘Insulting Lalu Yadav, the messiah of crores of people, is Nitish Kumar’s first priority. We will throw him out of the house but how will he throw him out of the hearts of the people of Bihar?
Whereas BJP is continuously attacking him. BJP leader Neeraj Kumar said that Rabri Devi will have to be kept an eye. While vacating the 10 Circular Road residence, he should not steal the tap. Meanwhile, BJP State President Dilip Jaiswal said that power keeps coming and going, hence one should never have any attachment towards government accommodation.
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