Young J&K MLA draws praise from across the aisle for House speech

JAMMU: A young BJP legislator in J&K Saturday drew rare praise from across the political aisle with her speech in the Assembly, which she confined strictly to budgetary issues in the otherwise highly polarised House.

Devyani Singh Rana, 31, is the daughter of former Nagrota MLA Devender Rana, who died in 2024 after winning the assembly election. In Oct 2025, BJP fielded Devyani from Nagrota in the bypoll, which she won. After her father’s death, Devyani had joined BJP and was appointed vice-president of the J&K BJP Yuva Morcha in Jan 2025.

While governing National Conference legislators focused on J&K’s special status, BJP used the debate to highlight what it described as developmental gains after the abrogation of Article 370.

Devyani, however, flagged electricity shortages, raised concerns over the union territory’s growing climate vulnerabilities, education sector and transportation as members listened to her raptly for around 12 minutes.

In her speech, she deprecated Rs 271-cr reduction in disaster management, relief and rehabilitation department allocation, saying the sharp cut comes in a year that saw unprecedented and intense rainfall that devastated large parts of rural Jammu.

Referring to tragedies in her constituency, she cited the death of three-year-old Mahi in a landslide and 28-year-old Sheer Khan, who drowned in a river. “These names represent the lives lost in the Jammu division,” she said, calling for stronger flood and landslide management measures.

About flash floods that hit Jammu last year, Rana said, people lost their lives, bridges were damaged, roads became unsafe and houses were destroyed. “Our children were stranded at home and in colleges. Apple trucks were stuck on the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway (NH-44), and our traders suffered losses,” she said. She called for more allocation in disaster management as Jammu and Kashmir, she said, is “earthquake-prone, landslide-prone and fire-prone.”

Devyani also flagged under-spending in the social sectors. “If around Ra 193 crore is spent less on education, then how will the children of poor families be uplifted,” she said.

She also pointed to a reduction of Rs 782.8 crore in power capital expenditure, saying it comes at a time when voltage remains unstable and transformers frequently fail.

While welcoming the initiative of free bus travel for persons with disabilities, the MLA questioned its effective implementation. “Are these buses adequately equipped with ramps and access mechanisms? And when there have been documented cases of buses failing to stop even for women, what deterrent exists to ensure compliance?” she asked.

As she ended her speech, members from the NC, BJP and PDP thumped their tables and crossed over to her seat to congratulate her.

Devyani holds a degree in economics from the University of California. The eldest of three siblings — two sisters and a brother — she is a businesswoman who took over the management of the family business after her father’s death. “I feel humbled and very blessed by the response to my speech. We all work for the public good,” Devyani told TOI.

She said since the ongoing Assembly session is the budget session, she preferred to focus on the budget only to identify problem areas that could be addressed in coming years. “I chose to speak in English because the budget across all quarters is presented and discussed in English,” she said.

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