Bungalow where Rabri resides will be vacated, no one can stop it, says CM

Patna: CM Samrat Choudhary on Tuesday said the bungalow where former chief minister Rabri Devi resides “will certainly be vacated” and “no one on earth can stop that”. He said official accommodation cannot be treated as a family entitlement.

Speaking at a Sahyog camp near Motipur in Muzaffarpur, a state initiative aimed at expediting the resolution of public grievances involving multiple departments, Samrat said official residences are governed by rules and constitutional positions, not personal privilege.

At another Sahyog camp in Sheikhpura, the CM, without naming any party or neta, said, “It is not a monarchy... The mother wants one house, and the son desires another.”

On the bungalow dispute, Samrat said, “It (bungalow) will certainly be vacated. Remember this well. No one can prevent it. The house will have to be vacated. This is not a monarchy; it is a democracy. And the people understand everything.”

He sharpened the criticism further, saying, “Some think a bungalow is a sort of inheritance (bapauti). One house is needed for the mother and another for the son. This is not a monarchy.”

The controversy centres on 10, Circular Road, where Rabri Devi has been residing. She has declined to shift to 39, Hardinge Road, which was allotted to her as leader of the opposition in the Bihar legislative council. Her son, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly, occupies a bungalow at 1, Polo Road. Samrat cited these details to argue that official residences cannot be treated as permanent family assets.

Projecting his own approach to public office, Samrat said, “I have never lived in a govt bungalow for the last several years. I have been living in my private house.”

He added that he agreed to begin working from 1, Anne Marg — the chief minister’s official residence, renamed Lok Sevak Bhavan by his govt — only after the insistence of his predecessor Nitish Kumar.

“Nitish Kumar ji set an example by taking no time in vacating his official residence. And I must say that the day my bosses tell me to step down, I will pack my bags and leave, without batting an eyelid,” Samrat said.

In Muzaffarpur, he reiterated his claim of not being attached to official residences. “I have been allotted 11 govt houses so far. This is only the third govt house I have lived in. In seven or eight of those houses, I merely operated my office,” he said, adding, “We are not attached to such material things.”

The RJD has termed the eviction order “vendetta politics”. RJD national general secretary Abdul Bari Siddiqui accused the NDA govt of “targeting the opposition”, saying, “The beauty of democracy lies in exposing the shortcomings of the govt.”