J&K Poll Players | Devender Singh Rana: An Altered Political Alignment

Devender Singh Rana’s name used to be synonymous with the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference until 2021, when he jumped ship to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The richest candidate in Jammu and Kashmir this poll season, Rana filed his nomination papers last week from his home seat, Nagrota in the Jammu district, where he won in the previous election.

Born into a Dogra family in Gandhi Nagar, Nagrota in Jammu district, he is the brother of Union Minister Jitendra Singh. He completed his undergraduate degree in Science and Civil Engineering from NIT, Kurukshetra in 1986. The 59-year-old businessman-turned-politician is a well-known face among the locals.

In 2008, he wrested the Nagrota constituency, which was held by the BJP. In 2011, he was made the NC’s provincial president of the Jammu region. He has been a strong advocate for the rights of Jammu and mooted a ‘Jammu Declaration’ – a roadmap for an inclusive Jammu and Kashmir. 

In 2014, when the last Assembly elections were held in the erstwhile state, Rana won from Nagrota on an NC ticket. He defeated BJP’s MLA Nand Kishore by a margin of 4,048 votes. Rana was a trusted lieutenant of former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and served as a political advisor to him. 

However, in 2021, he quit the National Conference and joined the BJP, along with another party leader Surjit Singh Slathia. Reports said that his advocacy for the Jammu Declaration was proving counter-effective to the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration – a coalition between several political parties in Jammu and Kashmir formed in 2020 with an aim to restore Article 370 and statehood. 

“I will work for the Jammu Declaration for inclusive development of Jammu & Kashmir. We have asked all parties to be part of this declaration but a few parties want to play politics, not strengthen the region,” he had said after joining the saffron party, as quoted by The Print.

Seeking another term from Nagrota, Rana has hit the campaign trail in the constituency. At a recent roadshow, he was accompanied by former Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP's election in-charge for J&K Ram Madhav.

Rana said he is a servant of the people of the constituency and will always be just a call away. "I pray before Mata Vaishnodevi to bless me for serving the people of this constituency," he said.

Rana is fighting against National Conference's Joginder Singh, alias Kaku, Congress' Balbir Singh, BSP's Shak Mohammad, Shabir Chowdhary of the Apni Party, Samajwadi Party's Sat Paul and independent candidates Shah Mohammad and Jaswant Singh.