Rabri back in the forefront
COMEBACK The former chief minister has returned to the hustle and bustle of Bihar politics
PATNA: When, as a misty-eyed housewife, Rabri Devi drove to Raj Bhavan on July 25, 1997 to take the oath of office as chief minister of Bihar, the move surprised everyone and reaffirmed the political shrewdness of her husband Lalu Prasad, who passed on the mantle to his wife just days before he was arrested in the multi-crore fodder scam case.
Two decades later, Rabri Devi, 62, whose term as CM lasted 91 months across three non-contiguous terms, is back in the hustle and bustle of politics, not merely as the mascot of the party in the absence of her husband, who is now serving another sentence related to the same fodder scam in a Ranchi jail, but as a unifying force keeping the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) together.
Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav is in self-imposed exile after deciding to divorce his wife of six months (he appeared in a family court on Thursday). Pratap doesn’t see eye-to-eye with his younger brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav , who is effectively in charge of the party. To Devi, then, has fallen the task of keeping the family and party going although, to be fair, Tejashwi has shown he has the same kind of political savvy as his father.
On Wednesday, Devi sat on a dharna (protest) inside the Bihar legislative council to protest the suspension of five of the party’s members, forcing the acting chairman of the Legislative Council to revoke the suspension within a few hours.
The day before, she hit out at the Nitish Kumar government on rising crime. The situation in Bihar was a “maha jungleraj”, she thundered. Her use of the term was deliberate. “Jungle raj” (law of the jungle) was a barb first used in the 1990s by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to criticise the RJD government’s rule of Bihar.
“Those who doubted Rabri’s capabilities as a politician have been proven wrong. She has matured as a public figure and enjoys the status of party guardian. She has seen many ups and downs in politics and has a new perspective on political life. Her simple lifestyle also drives the party, which is committed to social justice. Her role as the party’s woman mascot reflects she is capable of balancing her home and party with ease,” said Abdul Bari Siddiqui, former opposition leader in the assembly and a senior RJD functionary.
Siddiqui said the former chief minister had shown indomitable fighting spirit, especially over the last couple of years. Devi herself wasn’t immune to charges of graft, and faced a disproportionate assets case in which she was acquitted.
RJD insiders say elevating Devi as the party’s national vice president in February 2018 was a masterstroke by Prasad. She kept the party intact while Prasad smoothly transitioned power to son Tejashwi.
In May, Devi herself was elected leader of the opposition in the state Legislative Council.
Many see her role now as not very different from that in 1997, when her primary task was to keep everyone in the fold.
“She acted as the glue for the party’s senior leaders to stay together despite several challenges and she continues to play the same role even now, when Lalu is in jail. Many seniors who resent the fact that Tejashwi is increasingly calling the shots, feel comfortable attending party meetings in Rabri’s presence,” said a senior RJD leader who did not want to be named.
Devi’s opponents continue to maintain that Devi remains just the face. “She has always been in the shadow of RJD chief . Till today, he calls the shots. Rabri is not a leader. There can’t be two leaders in the party especially when there is a process underway to pass the baton to Tejashwi,” said the BJP’S state vice president and spokesperson Devesh Kumar.
Devi, with an ever-present smile, remains a big draw for the party, one reason why she is listed as a star campaigner after Prasad and Tejashwi and will no doubt be required to do the rounds in the run-up to next year’s Lok Sabha polls, when the RJD will be pitted against the National Democratic Alliance.
“Lalu ji is there but we feel Rabri ji is our guardian,” says Shiv Chandra Ram, an RJD MLA keen on contesting the Lok Sabha poll from the Hajipur seat.