3rd MP from state to join Union ministry

Ranchi: A first-time MP from Koderma constituency, Annapurna Devi (51), was inducted into the Union council of ministers following a major reshuffle on Wednesday.
She is now the third MP from the state to go on central assignment in Team Modi. Khunti MP Arjun Munda is currently holding the portfolio of the Union tribal ministry, while Rajya Sabha MP Mukthar Abbas Naqvi is in charge of minority affairs.
While Devi’s portfolio is yet to be announced, her rise in profile has come as a surprise for many in the political circles in Jharkhand, including in the state BJP unit.
She is a former long-time close aide of RJD chief Lalu Prasad but joined BJP in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls deserting RJD, of which she was the state president too. BJP later fielded her from Koderma constituency against ex-CM Babulal Marandi, the chief of now-defunct JVM-P. She trumped Marandi by a margin of 4,55,600 votes.
Last year, she was made the national vice-president of the BJP.
Devi’s entry into politics occurred after the death of her husband, Ramesh Prasad Yadav, in 1998. Yadav was then a minister in the Rabri Devi government in undivided Bihar. Since then, Devi went on to represent Koderma assembly seat four times. In 2014, she lost to BJP’s Neera Yadav.
Devi also served twice in state governments — once in Bihar and then in Jharkhand. In 2013, during UPA regime under the leadership of Hemant Soren, she was inducted as a cabinet minister (irrigation, women and child welfare, registration). She also served as the minister of state for mines and geology in Bihar government before 2000.
The news of her induction has enthused party workers in her constituency. Raj Kumar Yadav, one of the close aides of Devi, said over the phone that entire Koderma is elated with the news. “Modi-ji has rewarded a dedicated party worker and a woman, who rose from scratch due to her work at the ground level. All party workers are highly elated and are in celebratory mood,” he said.