Old BJP hand, new Rajasthan Speaker known for rows during stints in Education Ministry

As MoS handling various Education portfolios under Raje's two terms as CM, brought about changes in textbooks; questioned teaching of 'Akbar the Great' instead of 'Maharana Pratap the Great'

Newly-elected Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma with his deputies Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa, newly-elected State Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani and Rajasthan BJP President CP Joshi during BJP Legislature Party meeting, in Jaipur, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (PTI Photo)

The new Speaker of the Rajasthan Assembly, BJP Ajmer North legislator Vasudev Devnani is currently in his fifth consecutive term as an MLA. He also held various portfolios as a Minister of State during Vasundhara Raje’s two tenures as CM.

A teacher by profession, Devnani, who turns 76 next month, was Minister of State, Primary and Secondary Education, from 2004 to 2008 and then again between 2014 and 2018, apart from holding the portfolios of Sanskrit Education, Higher Education, etc. for various durations.

His last tenure as minister was marked by rewriting of textbooks, especially history, with the BJP and Congress constantly trading barbs over the issue. In an interview to The Indian Express last year, Devnani had said that “teaching ‘Akbar the Great’, which is not a reality, will not lead to a patriotic spirit among students. But if you teach ‘Maharana Pratap the Great’, this will automatically raise their patriotic spirit.”

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A native of Ajmer, Devnani is an engineering graduate, who got associated with the RSS early on, and was part of the ABVP for almost three decades between 1972 and 2000, during which he was its state president between 1985 and 1992.

From 2000 onwards, he started playing a more active role in the ABVP’s parent body RSS.

Apart from politics, Devnani is an active member of various social organisations, especially related to his Sindhi community: Sindhi Sahitya Samiti, Sindhi Bhasha Vikas Samiti, Sindhi Sangeet Samiti, Vishwa Sindhi Mandal, etc. He and wife Indira have three children.

Last year, Devnani was appointed convenor of the Rajasthan part of the party’s “Modi @ 20” programme, which highlighted the welfare policies under Modi’s 20 years in public service – over 12 years as a CM and 8 years as the PM.

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He was first elected as an MLA in 2003 from Ajmer West. Following delimitation, Ajmer West was changed to Ajmer North in 2008, from where he won again the same year. He would go on to win this seat in 2013, 2018 and 2023 too, defeating Mahendra Singh Ralawata of the Congress by 4,644 votes in his latest victory.

His smallest victory margin was in 2008, when he won by just 688 votes.

Devnani succeeds C P Joshi of the Congress, also a teacher by profession, in the Speaker’s post.

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