Annapurna Devi replaces Smriti Irani as Minister of Women and Child Development ministry

Annapurna Devi, the BJP’s OBC representative from Jharkhand, has recently joined Modi 3.0 after replacing Smriti Irani, who suffered a significant defeat in the Amethi constituency. This event marked the end of an era in Amethi, which had briefly become a stronghold for the BJP. Annapurna Devi’s inclusion in Modi 3.0 is seen as the BJP’s move to strengthen its OBC vote bank in preparation for the upcoming crucial state elections.

In the recent polls, she won from Koderma on a BJP ticket by a significant margin, defeating her closest rival by over three lakh votes. Annapurna Devi’s political career began when she won the Koderma 1998 by-poll in undivided Bihar on an RJD ticket, following her husband’s death. She subsequently won the state elections four times and served as a minister in Jharkhand in 2012.

From 2014 to 2019, she was the chief of the RJD’s Jharkhand unit. After defecting to the BJP, she contested and won the Lok Sabha polls for the first time from Koderma and avenged with a remarkable victory margin by defeating Babulal Marandi.