• By Imran Zafar
  • Mon, 11 Dec 2023 05:42 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Jagdish Devda, BJP MLA from Malhargarh assembly seat, was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh along with Rajendra Shukla on Monday. Jagdish Devda earlier served as the Finance Minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cabinet and has been winning the assembly elections for six consecutive terms. 

Jagdish Devda, who is popular among the masses in Malhargarh, was born in Rampura village of Neemuch district. Devda also practices law and is also involved in social work for years. He has a special interest in sports and has been an athletics champion. 

Devda started his political career as a student leader and was the President of the Student Union of Government College, Rampura in 1979 and a member of the student body in Vikram University. He joined the youth wing of the BJP and rose to prominence over the years. 

ALSO READ: Who Is Mohan Yadav; Ujjain South MLA Picked As New Madhya Pradesh CM

He won his first election in 1993 to secure a seat in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly. He was a member of several committees in the state legislative assembly. He took office as a Minister of State in the MP government in 2003, where he served as the Minister of Commercial Tax, Finance, Planning, Economics and Statistics Department in the BJP government. 

ALSO READ: Rajendra Shukla To Be New Deputy CM Of Madhya Pradesh; Know All About Five-Time MP Cabinet Minister

In the 2023 Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, Jagdish Devda won the Malhargarh constituency defeating Independent candidate Shyamlal Jokchand. The BJP retained power in MP following the 17  November polls, winning 163 seats in the 230-member MP Legislative Assembly, leaving the Congress with only 66 seats.

The decision to name Jagdish Devda as the deputy CM of Madhya Pradesh was taken after three central observers of the BJP, including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, met newly-elected party MLAs in Bhopal to decide about the leadership of the state.