Sixty-two-years-old Renu Devi, from the Noniya community, on Monday, 16 November, took oath as one of Bihar’s two Deputy Chief Ministers along with Tarkishore Prasad, together replacing BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi. Devi is a four-time MLA from Bettiah, a former minister in Nitish Kumar’s Cabinet and a mother of two.
Formerly the vice president of the party, Renu Devi on Sunday was chosen as the deputy leader of the BJP legislature in Bihar.
Mahila Morcha to State Ministry
Acccording to Aaj Tak, Renu Devi bagan her political hourney in 1981, while she was associated with an NGO and officially joined the BJP in 1988 as a part of the women’s wing.
In 1989, she was chosen as the BJP’s head of women’s wing for the Champaran region. In 1993, she was appointed as the head of the state’s ‘Mahila Morcha’, a post she was reappointed to in 1996. She was appointed as the vice president of the party in 2014.
She contested her first election for the BJP in 1995 from the Nautan Assembly seat but faced defeat. She was elected in the 2020 elections from Bettiah for the fourth time, after winning thrice earlier in 2000, 2005 and 2010 elections.
Renu Devi was the Sports and Culture Minister in Nitish Kumar’s second Cabinet between 2005 and 2009. She was also a part of Amit Shah’s team while he was the BJP president.
A Woman Leader of Bihar’s Extremely Backward Caste
Born on 1 November 1959, Renu Devi belongs to the Noniya caste, a community that is identified under the Extremely Backward Caste (EBC) category in Bihar.
According to the The Times of India (TOI), the community has been demanding from the Nitish Kumar-led state government to be included in the ST category from the Centre.
The state government in June this year did make recommendations to the Centre for the inclusion of the community under the ST category after its proposal was rejected once in 2018.
(Witth inputs from Aaj Tak, News Nation and TOI.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)