Historic Achievement: Jammu and Kashmir Reaches Record Four Women MLAs After BJP's Devyani Rana Wins Nagrota Bypoll

BJP candidate Devyani Rana achieved a historic milestone on Friday by winning the assembly bypoll in Nagrota constituency, bringing the total number of women legislators in Jammu and Kashmir to four for the first time ever.

This victory marks a significant advancement for women's representation in the region's politics, as the Jammu and Kashmir assembly had previously never exceeded three women MLAs in any given term.

In the 2008 and 2014 elections, women constituted merely 3.4 percent of the 87-member legislative assembly. Following the 2022 delimitation exercise that expanded the assembly to 90 seats, women's representation slightly decreased to 3.33 percent.

With Rana's commanding victory in Nagrota, the percentage of women legislators has now increased to 4.44 percent, establishing a new benchmark for female political participation in the region.

The current assembly's women representatives include National Conference leader Sakina Masood Ittoo, who serves as a Cabinet minister in Omar Abdullah's government and represents the D H Pora assembly segment in Kulgam district. She is joined by her party colleague Shamima Firdous, a three-term legislator from Srinagar's Habbakadal constituency, and BJP's first-time MLA Shagun Parihar from Kishtwar.

Rana's election represents not only a personal achievement but also a meaningful step forward for women's political empowerment in Jammu and Kashmir.