New Delhi: BJP MP Annapurna Devi took charge as the Union Women and Child Development Minister here on Tuesday. Before taking the charge, Annapurna Devi was given sweets by her predecessor Smriti Irani.
Smriti Irani was the Union Minister for Women and Child Development in the Narendra Modi 2.0 government. She however lost the 2024 polls from Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, which is a bastion of the Gandhi family, to Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma.
Irani was subsequently dropped from the Cabinet in the Narendra Modi government 3.0. The portfolios were distributed on Monday, June 19, after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet colleagues took oath at a grand ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on June 9.
55-year-old Annapurna Devi is the BJP leader from Jharkhand. Savitri Thakur is the new minister of state in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Annapurna Devi thanked the Prime Minister for giving her a new responsibility. "I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he has given me a new responsibility. I will give my 100 per cent to contribute to PM Modi's vision for a Vikasit Bharat (Developed India) and the schemes for women and children reach the last person. The Women and Child Development Ministry works with other ministries, so we will co-ordinate with them and try to reach our targets," Annapurna Devi told reporters after after taking charge.
With challenges such as raising the legal age of marriage for women, combating malnutrition among women and children, and addressing women's safety issues, the new ministers face a formidable agenda. Devi's political journey began with her election to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in a 1998 by-election. She later served as minister of state for Mines and Geology in the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) government of undivided Bihar.
From 2005 to 2014, Devi was a member of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly and became a cabinet minister in Jharkhand in 2012, overseeing the Ministry of Irrigation, Women & Child Welfare, and Registration. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, contesting from Koderma on the party's ticket. She defeated Babulal Marandi of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) by a substantial margin of 4.55 lakh votes.
In her latest victory, she retained the Koderma seat by defeating CPI(ML)L's Vinod Kumar Singh by a margin of 3.77 lakh votes. Devi's influence extends beyond the mica belt of Koderma, impacting the entire state and establishing her as a key figure in the political landscape.
In 2021, Devi, once a close aide of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, was inducted into the Union government as the minister of state for Education on July 7.
