Who is Annapurna Devi, one of two woman Cabinet ministers in the new Modi govt?

Annapurna Devi foray into politics in 1998 was not a decision she had much control over. It happened after the death of her husband Ramesh Yadav who was with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Since then, she has not looked back and on Sunday the Koderma MP was sworn in as a Union Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third Cabinet. She was the Union Minister of State for Education from 2021 in the previous Modi government.

Devi, 55, is among seven women in the new Council of Ministers and one of the two woman Cabinet ministers apart from Nirmala Sitharaman. She was among the eight BJP candidates who won from Jharkhand. Her victory margin against Vinod Kumar Singh of the CPI(ML) Liberation in Koderma – 3.77 lakh – was the highest among the party’s winning candidates in the state.

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| BJP leader Annapurna Devi sworn-in as Union Minister in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government pic.twitter.com/jsGZhstKQs

— ANI (@ANI) <a href=«https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1799815881880691194?ref_src=» https: class="" rel=«nofollow, noopener» target="_blank">June 9, 2024

She started her political career by successfully contesting the Koderma Assembly bypoll in 1998 following her husband’s death in then undivided Bihar on an RJD ticket. Devi went on to win the Assembly elections from the seat in 2000, 2004, 2005, and 2009 as the RJD’s nominee and was appointed as a minister in the Jharkhand government in 2012.

Hailing from the OBC Yadav community, Devi is seen to have a significant influence in the six Assembly segments of the Koderma Lok Sabha seat. Jharkhand goes to the polls later this year.

She served as