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 ...

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 Decem ...

(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 s ...

. Rabri is married to Indian politician Lalu Prasad Yadav, former

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 terri ...

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 seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

(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 P ...

, 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 terri ...

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 ...

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,

. Her parents are Shiv 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 ''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 and

Paan Betel nut chewing, also called betel quid chewing or areca nut chewing, is a practice in which areca nuts (also called "betel nuts") are chewed together with slaked lime and betel leaves for their stimulant and narcotic effects. The prac ...

. Prabhunath Yadav, Subhash Prasad Yadav and Sadhu Yadav 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 faced defeat, winning only 22 seats. She contested from Saran in 2014 Lok Sabha election but lost to Rajiv Pratap Rudy 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 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

is the current and 5th

of Bihar. * elder son: Tej Pratap Yadav * younger son:

* eldest daughter: Misa Bharti * 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 ...

leader * 5th daughter: Hema Yadav * 6th daughter: Anushka Yadav (Dhannu) - married to Chiranjeev Rao * youngest daughter: Raj Lakshmi Yadav - married to Tej Pratap Singh Yadav Note: Rahul Yadav is son of Jitendra Yadav, former MLC from the

. 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