To reproduce: public Form1() { InitializeComponent(); this.radDropDownList1.DropDownStyle = RadDropDownStyle.DropDownList; this.radDropDownList1.Text = "Select Name"; string[] names = { "Ketan", "Leena", "Amar" }; radDropDownList1.Items.AddRange(names); } private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { radDropDownList1.SelectedIndex = -1; radDropDownList1.Text = "Select Name"; } 1. Select any name from the drop down. 2. Click the button. The 'Text' is center justified. Workaround: use RadDropDownStyle.DropDown and NullText instead of setting the Text property. this.radDropDownList1.DropDownStyle = Telerik.WinControls.RadDropDownStyle.DropDown; this.radDropDownList1.NullText = "Select Name";