Devyani Rana of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has scripted history by becoming the fourth woman legislator in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly after securing a decisive victory in the recent Nagrota bypoll. Her win not only adds a new chapter to J&K’s political landscape but also pushes the share of elected women in the assembly to a record 4.44 percent, surpassing previous highs set in 2008, 2014, and 2024 elections when the assembly had a maximum of three women MLAs.

The Nagrota seat fell vacant after the demise of Devender Singh Rana, a senior BJP leader and Devyani’s father, whom she succeeded with a sweeping mandate. Devyani, an economics graduate from the University of California, focused her campaign on inclusive development, governance, and continuing her father’s legacy. Her emphatic win emphasized the BJP’s strengthened foothold in the region amid a competitive political field.

Currently, the assembly comprises three other women MLAs: National Conference’s Sakina Masood Ittoo — also a Cabinet minister, Shamima Firdous, a three-time MLA from Srinagar’s Habbakadal constituency, and first-time BJP MLA Shagun Parihar from Kishtwar. Their presence, along with Devyani Rana’s election, reflects the gradual but hopeful progress towards gender diversity and political empowerment for women in Jammu and Kashmir.

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Devyani’s victory not only fulfills the hope of enhancing women’s representation but also inspires greater participation of women in the region’s politics. Political observers note this milestone as an encouraging sign of evolving social attitudes in J&K’s traditionally male-dominated political arena.

With her first electoral test successfully behind her, Devyani Rana now shoulders the responsibility of advancing her party’s development agenda and representing the interests of her Nagrota constituents with renewed vigor and the added mantle of breaking gender barriers.

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