Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday made it clear that former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, wife of party founder Lalu Prasad, will not vacate the government bungalow she has lived in for the past two decades.

The statement came a day after the state building construction department issued a notice directing her to move to 39, Hardinge Road, which has been marked as the residence of the leader of the opposition in the legislative council.

Why is the bungalow issue in the spotlight?

Speaking to reporters, RJD’s state unit chief Mangani Lal Mandal said that 10, Circular Road, located directly opposite the Chief Minister’s official residence at 1, Anney Marg, “will not be vacated, come what may”.

He claimed the government’s move was politically motivated. According to him, “the decision smacks of malice the ruling NDA harbours for our leader Lalu Prasad. Why did Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wait for two decades before earmarking a government bungalow for the leader of the opposition in the legislative council? And if it was necessary, why did the government not earmark 10, Circular Road? They should have considered the fact that its occupants, Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, have both served as chief ministers.”

What is the government’s justification?

State minister Santosh Kumar Suman said the bungalow had earlier been allotted to Rabri Devi under a provision allowing life-long accommodation for former chief ministers.

He explained that, “that provision had to be scrapped following an Allahabad High Court ruling a few years ago. In any case, we are not depriving Rabri Devi of the bungalow. Moreover, the government has the right to decide which bungalow should be allotted to whom”.

Does the RJD see political motives behind the move?

Mandal alleged that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision was influenced by political pressure from his alliance partner. He said, “Nitish Kumar has taken the decision to curry favour with the BJP. The JD(U) supremo has been rattled by the aggression of his alliance partner, which has forced him to give up the Home portfolio he held so dear. So, knowing the BJP's ill-will towards Lalu ji, Nitish Kumar has tried to appease Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ilk by insulting our leader”.

How does the RJD view its electoral standing?

Mandal reminded the ruling NDA that the RJD had secured significant public support. He said, “the ruling NDA should remember that we may be in the opposition, but in the recent assembly elections, we got more votes than any of its constituents. As per the Election Commission, we got more than one crore votes while the BJP, the NDA's largest constituent, got less than 90 lakh. So they better not try to belittle us”.

He made these remarks after a party meeting held to review the RJD’s performance in the recent elections, where its seat tally fell from 75 to 25. Despite the setback, Mandal insisted, “we did not lose the elections. It was the system that worked against us. We should consider ourselves as victors and not losers”.

What challenges does the RJD claim it faced?

Highlighting resource disparities during the campaign, Mandal said, “just look at the enormous resources BJP-led NDA had. Our leader Tejashwi Yadav had to put up against their fleet of helicopters and chartered plans, the large amount of money donated by big business houses. We must not think that we have lost”.

PTI inputs