Bihar CM slams Rabri Devi over bungalow row

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Tuesday took a veiled dig at the RJD, the main opposition party in the state, which has been indignant over the allotment of the bungalow occupied by former CM Rabri Devi to a minister. Choudhary referred to the tiff without mentioning the opposition party or its leaders by name and remarked, "It is not a monarchy... The mother wants one house, and the son desires another." The CM was addressing a gathering at Sahyog camp, recently launched by the state government to ensure prompt resolution of people's grievances concerning different departments, in Sheikhpura.
Notably, Rabri Devi has been living at 10, Circular Road, refusing to shift to 39, Hardinge Road allotted to her in her capacity as the leader of the opposition in state legislative council. Her son Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, is the occupant of 1, Polo Road. Choudhary claimed, "I have never lived in a government bungalow for the last several years. I have been living in my private house."
The CM claimed he agreed to start working from 1, Anney Marg, the official residence of the chief minister which his government has rechristened as Lok Sevak Bhavan, only upon the insistence of his predecessor Nitish Kumar who gave up the top post to enter Rajya Sabha. "Nitish Kumar ji set an example by taking no time in vacating his official residence. And I must say that the day my leaders tell me to step down, I will pack my bags and leave, without batting an eyelid," Choudhary said.
The BJP leader, who is often teased by the RJD with the reminder that he began his political career as a minister in Rabri Devi's cabinet, trained his guns at the opposition party, 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."