Devender Singh Rana: Former NC Leader To Strengthen BJP Prospects In Jammu (image:facebook.com/devendersranaofficial)
Devender Singh Rana, once considered a close associate of former chief minister Omar Abdullah, he, along with Surjit Singh Salathia, quit the National Conference (NC) and joined the BJP in 2021. The exit of Rana and Salathia, two senior leaders, posed a massive blow to NC, who over the years had emerged as the Hindu faces of the party in the Jammu region.
Hailing from Gandhi Nagar in Nagrota, Rana is the brother of Union Minister Jitendra Singh. He has also served as Omar Abdullah’s political advisor from 2009 to 2014, when the latter was serving as the Chief Minister.
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In the 2024 assembly polls, Rana is contesting from Nagrota, his home constituency, where he won the last election. In 2014, then contesting on a NC ticket, he defeated BJP candidate Nand Kishore by a margin of 4,048 votes and confident to retain the seat this time as well.
He was made the NC’s provincial president of the Jammu region in 2011. Rana has always been a strong proponent for the rights of Jammu and advanced a ‘Jammu Declaration’—a roadmap for an inclusive Jammu and Kashmir. The ‘Declaration’ initiated more development and recognition of the Jammu region.
As per Rana’s claims, giving prime importance to the welfare of the Jammu region was not liked by the Abdullahs. “The differences with NC started when I talked about the Jammu Declaration and said that Jammu must have its own position. I started asserting my authority for the welfare of Jammu and that was to the dislike of the Kashmiri leadership who felt that this is not right as they (NC) are a Kashmir-oriented party while my belief then and now is that Jammu is the only secular bowl of Jammu and Kashmir. We have Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and people of all colours and shades,” ET quotes, as Rana is saying.
As per the reports, his championing for the Jammu Declaration was also proving counter-effective to the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a coalition between seven political parties in Jammu and Kashmir formed in 2020 with a motive to restore Article 370 and statehood.
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Rana’s nomination from Nagrota is considered a strategic move by the BJP, considering the grass-root influence he holds in the constituency. The Nagrota constituency is a Hindu majority seat. In the polls, he is pitted against NC candidate Joginder Singh alias Kaku, Congress’ Balbir Singh, Samajwadi Party’s Sat Paul, Shabir Chowdhary of the Apni Party, BSP’s Shak Mohammad, and independent candidates Shah Mohammad and Jaswant Singh. Though NC and Congress are in alliance, they are engaging in a “friendly” contest against each other from this seat.
