BJP MLA Devendra Singh Rana (X) passes away
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Nagrota MLA Devendra Singh Rana died on Thursday at a private hospital in Faridabad, Haryana. He was 59 years old. According to a senior leader associated with the party, Devendra was undergoing treatment in the hospital for several days. Apart from his wife Gunjan Rana, he has two daughters, Devyani and Ketki, and a son, Adhiraj Singh, in his family.
As soon as the news of MLA Rana’s demise spread, a large number of leaders reached his residence in Gandhinagar area of Jammu. Union Minister Jitendra Singh also reached home. Jitendra Singh is his elder brother. Devendra entered politics from business and built a business worth crores of rupees. He was considered a strong voice of the Dogra community of Jammu.
Did engineering from NIT Kurukshetra
In the recent assembly elections held in Jammu and Kashmir, Devendra Singh Rana was elected to the assembly for the second time from Nagrota seat in Jammu district. Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha expressed condolences on his demise. “With his passing away, we have lost a patriotic and respected leader who was committed to the welfare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the LG’s office wrote on social media. I express my deepest condolences to his family and friends. Om Shanti.” Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Chaudhary also expressed grief over his demise. Many other veterans in the state also expressed their regrets.
Born in 1965 in a Dogra family in Doda district of Jammu, he was the son of former bureaucrat Rajinder Singh Rana and younger brother of Union minister Jitendra Singh. After graduating in civil engineering from NIT Kurukshetra, Devendra Singh Rana entered the business world and started his own automobile company.
He founded the multi-million dollar company Jamkash Vehicles Group and cable television channel, and established himself as a successful businessman in Jammu and Kashmir.
He lived in North Carolina for two decades before the BJP.
Rana began his political career in the National Conference (NC), where he worked prominently as a key strategist and advisor. He also expanded the party’s base in Jammu as the party’s provincial president. He was once a trusted aide of Omar Abdullah. He was considered to have great influence among the Muslims of Jammu, especially the Gujjar community.
In his first attempt for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Devendra Singh contested from the Nagrota Assembly seat – considered a BJP stronghold – and won for the National Conference by defeating three-time MP Jugal Kishore Sharma of the BJP. However, after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, he became a strong supporter of it, going against the party line and calling for the restoration of statehood specifically for the Jammu region. In October 2021, after more than two decades in NC, he resigned from the party and joined the BJP.
