Patna (Bihar): A five-time MLA and a fierce representative of the Bhangi community here, Bhagirathi Devi won the Padma Shree, the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India in 2019, for her invaluable contribution towards the Dalit community.
Having entered politics in 1980, she slowly climbed the ladder and won people's hearts because of her simple and easy-going nature. In just 20 years, she became a first-time MLA in 2000, after winning by a huge margin of votes.
From 2000 to 2010, she won from the Narkatiaganj (West Champaran) Assembly Seat. However, after 2010, due to delimitation (the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body), the seat's name was changed to Ramnagar and she fought and won from there.
It is to be noted that in 2015, Nitish Kumar campaigned aggressively during the elections for the Grand Alliance, countering the allegations raised by Narendra Modi and the BJP. The Grand Alliance won the Assembly election by a margin of 178 over the BJP and its allies, with RJD emerging as the largest party with 80 seats and JD(U) placed second with 71.
Back then, Purnmasi Ram, a veteran in Bihar politics had to cut a sorry figure after Devi beat the bejabbers out of him in the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.
Besides politics, she is also a talented artist. In 2014, Bihar's Arts, Culture and Youth Affairs Minister Vinay Bihari directed a film titled 'Pyaar, Mohabbat, Zindabad'. As many as 11 MLAs acted in the movie including Devi which was based on a love story, but also spoke on social issues like child marriage, drug addiction, and caste discrimination.
For the uninformed, Devi worked as a sanitation worker at the Narkatiaganj block office for a meagre salary of ₹800 per month. She faced heavy backlash from her family members for entering into politics. However, she stood her ground and did not give up, finally becoming a popular face in Bihar politics.
Devi has a dominating presence during assembly sessions, voicing the condition of women and lashing out at the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Bhagirathi permitted the Anganwadi Kendra (child care centres) to open its office in her house in the West Champaran district. She focused her efforts mostly on the education of girls.
In Narkatiyaganj block, she spent several years and fought for fair pay, spoke on violence against Dalits, and domestic abuse by founding mahila sangathans. Later, she expanded her political movement to other blocks, and in 1991, was arrested and sent behind bars for planning protests.
A staunch feminist, Devi resigned from all posts of her party in June 2022 when her voice went unheard. "Nobody listened to me because I belonged to a Mahadalit caste. However, Narendra Modi is still God to me and I respect him," she said.
Rumours of her being unhappy about not getting any big ministerial post have also been doing the rounds despite no solid statement from here. However, people say that she was disappointed about not heading any major department despite being a five-time MLA.
Son Rajesh Kumar, who is proud of his mother's achievements, has also alleged that she was never given the due respect in the party and was neglected time and again.
Devi's husband Mamikhan Raut served the railways and later retired. They have five sons and a daughter who passed away. When asked about how exactly she entered politics, she said, "Officers often chased away poor helpless women from the block that pained me immensely.
Once when a woman was being chased away, I gathered women from the block and and gheraoed the officer. That's when I was noticed and asked to become a representative of the poor." Daughter-in-law Rani Devi had opened a front against her during the 2020 assembly election and fought independently.
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