Devendra Singh Rana, a strong BJP leader in Jammu and Kashmir, died last night at the age of 59. Rana was ill for some time. Rana, who was once a close friend and political advisor of Omar Abdullah, was on his way to becoming the leader of the opposition in the House this time, when Omar himself is the leader of the House. But destiny had something else in store. Rana was known for his strong political grip, public relations, and excellent relations with leaders of all parties.

Devendra Singh Rana is no more. MLA from Nagrota seat of Jammu, one of the prominent leaders of BJP in Jammu and Kashmir, younger brother of Union Minister Jitendra Singh,, and political advisor to CM during the previous government of Omar Abdullah. Rana was a tall personality, not only physically but also politically. He had special relations with senior BJP leaders, a confidant of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Rana, who managed to gain acceptance within the state unit of BJP in a short time, was also being seen as the new leader of the opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

Last night, after meeting relatives and friends on the occasion of Deepawali, I picked up my phone, saw some tweets on my ex, and got the sad news of Devendra Singh Rana's death. My relationship with Devendra Singh Rana is not very old, but Rana's departure hurts. There was something magnetic in his personality.

The art of maintaining human relations
I met Devendra Rana only twice in my life and spoke to him on the phone only five times. But during this time, the image that formed in my mind about Rana was that of a politician and a human being who was not only an expert in his work but also in the art of maintaining human relations.

Rana entered politics through business. Rana had entered active politics before his elder brother. Elder brother Dr Jitendra Singh has become Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office for the third time in a row, he is a BJP MP from Udhampur, continuously since 2014. Dr Jitendra Singh came into the limelight for playing an active role in the Amarnath movement when Ghulam Nabi Azad was the CM. Before that, Dr Jitendra Singh was known as a famous doctor and diabetologist in Jammu and Kashmir. He was the eldest, and Devendra Rana was the youngest.

Devendra Singh Rana with Home Minister Amit Shah.

I first spoke to Devendra Rana three years ago, on 27 October 2021. I was in Srinagar that day. 27 October is a very important day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. It was on 27 October 1947 that the Indian Army reached Srinagar for the first time to provide relief to the people of Kashmir from the attack of Pakistan-backed tribesmen and to foil Pakistan's plan to forcibly annex Kashmir.

On 27 October 2021,
a big program was organized at Srinagar Airport. The Dakota was being landed, which had also landed here on 27 October 1947 and after being refitted, was landing again on the Srinagar runway in memory of that historic occasion. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was about to leave to attend that program, I had reached the Raj Bhavan of Srinagar to meet him.

I was chatting with Manoj ji on current affairs while sitting in Raj Bhavan in Srinagar, when Rana called me. Both of them were discussing some issues related to Jammu. During this time Manoj Ji introduced me to him on the phone. We had a two-minute conversation, and from his tone and language,, I immediately understood that this person was something special.

There was very little time for the family. Always smiling, always present himself before everyone. There was no work-life balance. His wife looked after his business and he looked after the state's politics. His two daughters and one son were not even married.

Manoj ji has been my senior at Banaras Hindu University, quite senior. When he was pursuing a BTech, and MTech in engineering from IT-BHU, he was very active in student politics, at that time I had just started going to school. But the relationship between BHU alumni is very strong, neither the barrier of age nor the pomp of position comes into it. That is why Manoj ji arranged my conversation with Devendra Rana, without any hesitation. A little conversation as per normal courtesy and a promise to meet again. Rana had left the National Conference some time back and joined the BJP, he joined the BJP on 11 October 2021. He had met Amit Shah before joining the party. When he left NC, he was its Jammu region president, the most powerful in the party after the Abdullah family, he was called the troubleshooter of the party.

Encyclopedia of Jammu and Kashmir Issues
After the phone conversation from Raj Bhavan, Srinagar, I did not talk to Devendra Rana for the next two years, and did not meet him. The next conversation and the first meeting took place at the Raj Bhavan, Jammu, on the first of December, 2023. I had gone to Jammu for some work, so I also went to meet Manoj ji. When I reached the Raj Bhavan, Jammu, I saw Devendra Singh Rana already sitting with Manoj ji. The two were talking about some issues related to Jammu. This was Pratyaksh's first meeting. There was chit-chat for a while and Devendra Rana took leave from Manoj ji, understanding that since he had called me to meet him, I should not take much of his time.

While leaving, Devendra Rana said that if you get time, come to meet me this time or if you say so, I will come to meet you wherever it is convenient for you. This humility of Rana touched my heart. When I came out of Raj Bhavan after meeting Manoj Sinha, I talked to fellow journalist friends from Jammu, everyone praised Rana unanimously, and said that this person is an encyclopedia in the matter of Jammu-Kashmir, and we must definitely meet him. I also wanted to meet a leader to understand the political situation of Jammu-Kashmir, then who could be better than Rana?

I had to leave for Delhi on the evening of 2 December, before that I had three hours free. So instead of roaming around or shopping in Jammu, I decided to meet Devendra Rana. I discussed this with my old friend Sant Kumar Sharma and my colleague Tejinder Singh Sodhi from Jammu. We were having lunch when Devendra Rana called him to bring me to his house.

The three of us went straight from Aroma restaurant to Devendra Rana's house. Rana's house is in the Gandhi Nagar area, one of the most posh areas of the city. There was a fair outside the house. Hundreds of people inside and outside the campus. Rana's personal assistant was standing outside on the road, and as soon as we reached, he took us inside the house. He made us sit in the drawing room, by then Devendra Singh Rana arrived, and we were greeted. He told his PA to stop everything for the next two hours, and I would talk to these people leisurely, taking my name he said that I had come for the first time, and I wanted to talk leisurely.

Rana took us to another hall-like room inside the house. We sat there. The hustle and bustle of the outside had no effect here, we could talk comfortably. We had come to stay for half an hour, so we sat for the next two and a half hours, we did not realize when the time passed. When we looked at the clock, we felt that we should leave quickly or we would miss our flight. Due to this, the conversation stopped, and Devendra Rana came to see us off till outside. He also ensured that Sant Kumar Sharma had some difficulty in walking, so the car should come right up to the gate. Rana stood on the road till our car left, waving his hand to say goodbye.

Devendra Singh Rana with Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

He cleaned the car himself along with the employees.
However, it was not easy for Rana to move around in the last few years. He was overweight, so he had bariatric surgery to reduce it, but its effect on his body was just the opposite. Weakness was clearly visible, but his willpower was very strong, he did not let others realize his weakness and troubles easily. Despite illness and suffering, Rana remained hyperactive till the end. He used to visit different parts of Jammu and Kashmir continuously. This habit was there during the NC era as well as after joining the BJP. He had little time for the family. Always smiled, presenting himself before everyone. There was no work-life balance. His wife used to look after his business, he used to look after the politics of the state. His two daughters and one son were not even married.

Rana had told us so many things in the nearly two-and-a-half-hour-long conversation on that evening of December 2 last year. How after studying engineering at NIT Kurukshetra, he opened a car washing garage in Jammu, and cleaned cars himself along with the employees. Later he took the Maruti dealership, the first agency in Pathankot. Being close to both Jammu-Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, this car agency did very well. After that, he never looked back. One after the other, he took dealerships in many cities of North India including Jammu, and also became the biggest Maruti car dealer in North India.

Along with automobiles, Rana also ventured into the cable business. He started with cable TV in homes and also started a local channel by the name of Tech-One. Networking also kept increasing. The father was the Chief Engineer of PHED in the state. The son studied engineering but chose the path of business instead of a job. He rose to great heights very quickly and also had good contacts in the government and administration. It was said that no matter who is in power, Devendra Rana's work gets done easily. He does not face any problems. He has such good relations with leaders and officials.

Story of his association with Omar Abdullah:
Devendra Rana was also involved in social service along with earning money. He used to serve and help the people around him. Be it the poor or the villagers, he used to help anyone who came to him with open hands. Rana's fame grew. Farooq Abdullah noticed him and was impressed by Rana's intelligence and understanding. Farooq himself was making his son Omar his political successor and wanted to hand over the reins of the state to him. Therefore, there was a need for a person who not only knew the entire state but was also young like Omar and could be trusted.

Many times Devendra asked Rana to join him. Then one day his car stopped at the agency. Rana had no choice. Rana joined Omar. As a friend, and as a political advisor. Both of them were together in the car. Sometimes he would drive himself, sometimes Omar. Rana and Omar had such a strong friendship and so much trust in each other. This was also at a time when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and then Ghulam Nabi Azad were in power in the state, National Conference was out of power. Along with boosting the morale of the workers, there was also the challenge of strengthening the organizational structure of the party. Rana did this work for Omar, did it with all his heart, did it with a lot of hard work.

Opened a car washing garage in Jammu, cleaned cars himself along with the employees. Later took Maruti dealership, first agency in Pathankot. Due to proximity to both Jammu-Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, this car agency did very well. After that there was no looking back.

Trust in Devendra Rana
The result was that when assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in late 2008, the National Conference returned to power and Omar Abdullah became the CM. Rana wanted to return to his business, but on Omar's request, he formally accepted the role of his political advisor. In all three matters, be it party, government,, or family, if Omar listened to anyone the most and trusted anyone, it was Devendra Singh Rana.

Devendra Rana even took care of Omar's wife Payal and the children. Payal had deep faith in Mata Vaishno Devi, she used to go there for Havan many times when Omar was the CM. The booking for the havan was done in the name of Devendra Rana, to keep everything secret, because Omar had to sit with Payal in the havan, and he had to obey Payal. Farooq Abdullah is known for his mischievous style, he can sing film songs and also do bhajans of God, and havan as well. But Omar has been reserved, he was also on the target of Muslim fundamentalists due to his marriage with a Hindu girl Payal Nath. This is also considered to be the main reason for the breakdown of their marriage, the politics of the valley could not be done with a Hindu wife at home, that too, who was strict about Sanatani rituals.

Relations soured
In the 2014 assembly elections, Omar's government was voted out of power and Mufti's government came back to power. Even though Omar kept abusing the BJP from outside, he wanted to form a government with the BJP after the elections. He had even hinted to Rana for the same. But the BJP formed the government with Mufti's PDP instead of Omar. First Mufti and later his daughter Mehbooba became the chief minister of the state. The BJP was a power partner and Omar's NC was out of power. During this time, relations between Omar and Rana started souring.

Relations deteriorated internally after 2018. In June, BJP withdrew support from Mehbooba's government and imposed Governor's rule, and then in August 2019, it abolished Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and based on which the parties of the valley pursued their agenda and played the game of separatism along with Hurriyat. Rana joined the National Conference thinking that he would be able to take care of the interests of Jammu by staying in a party that did not have any strong leader who could speak for Jammu.

However after the rebellious stance of the National Conference after the abolition of Article 370, Rana started to feel that the Conference was national only by name, but the rest of the thinking was separatist. After all, Rana also knew history. Omar's grandfather Sheikh Abdullah had named the Communal Muslim Conference as the National Conference before independence, when he had to gain the trust of Gandhi and Nehru. After independence, as soon as the reins of power in Jammu and Kashmir came into Sheikh's hands, he did not delay in changing colors. He kept playing the game of separatism, Kashmiriyat, and nationalism as per convenience, whenever it benefited him. Farooq and Omar also inherited this quality genetically. The fundamentalist faction within the party was anyway angry with Devendra Rana, after all, how can a Hindu leader like Rana, the Jammu state president of the National Conference, be dominant, how can he establish his dominance in the party?

This is how the contact with the top BJP leader increased.
Rana was confused about his future in NC, during this time a senior politician who was convinced of his talent introduced him to Amit Shah. This meeting of Rana with Amit Shah brought a big turn in his political life. He joined the BJP in October 2021. Prime Minister Modi also saw the work of Devendra Rana, he had kept the elder brother with him, in his own office as a Minister of State since 2014. Modi-Shah saw the potential in the younger brother to play a big role in fulfilling the dream of BJP in that state, which had become a Union Territory with the abolition of Article 370 and where change was visible after the wind of development and strict action taken against terrorism. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who was engaged in bringing Modi and Shah's dream to the ground, himself liked Rana a lot, and was very impressed with his work and political understanding.

Devendra Rana was also very impressed with Modi, Shah, and Sinha. Especially with the work of the Modi government, under which development schemes were being implemented strongly in Jammu and Kashmir, government money was not being distributed as it used to be in the previous governments. Not only this, Rana was also very happy with the fact that as per Modi's instructions, Shah and Sinha had demolished the terrorist infrastructure with full strictness instead of buying peace in Jammu and Kashmir, and had put a strong rein on terror financing.

Chidambaram was annoyed with Devendra Rana's suggestion.
Devendra Rana remembered the era of the UPA government when P Chidambaram was the Home Minister and during a review meeting in the presence of Omar, he had asked to stop cross-border trade to stop terror funding, in which cheap goods were brought and sold at a higher price and then the money received from it was used for terrorist activities. Chidambaram was so annoyed with Devendra Rana's suggestion that he did not allow him to attend all the subsequent review meetings, while Rana was playing a very important role in the government and administration as the political advisor of the then Chief Minister Omar.

After joining BJP, Devendra Rana gave a new
edge to the organization by touring continuously, and visiting every part of the state. Devendra Rana played a big role in strengthening the party before the assembly elections. Despite ill health, he continuously toured the entire state, strengthening the organization everywhere. From his seat in Nagrota, from where he won the election for the first time by contesting on an NC ticket, he won with record votes as a BJP candidate in the 2024 elections, Rana was one of the MLAs who won with the highest margin in the state. The strength of the party organization was such that this time BJP made a record of winning the highest number of seats from the region of Jammu in electoral history. BJP also remained at number two and three on many seats in Kashmir, which no one could have even thought of till a few years ago.

The top leadership of BJP had already made preparations to make Devendra Rana, who was sworn in as MLA in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly ten days ago, the leader of the opposition in the House, but destiny had something else in store. Rana, who was constantly engaged in party work instead of taking care of his body, his health failed him. On the evening of October 31, he breathed his last in Faridabad's Mata Amritanandamayi Hospital, where he was admitted on October 26.

Devendra Rana , who spread light, passed away on the day of the festival of lights. His departure left
everyone, common and special, indifferent and shocked. No one could believe that Rana would go away so soon. How could his acquaintances, who were celebrating the festival of Diwali, know that Rana, who had brought light into the lives of millions of families in his life, would leave this world on the day of the festival of lights? From Prime Minister Modi to Home Minister Amit Shah, everyone expressed deep sorrow and grief over his death. People kept coming to his house in Jammu since late at night. After all, hundreds of people used to come to this house every day for all kinds of help, from their daughter's marriage to seeking help in treatment. Devendra Rana never sent anyone away disappointed, but left something in everyone's pocket.

He got some daughter married and some old person treated. Be it a big place or the compound of his own house, Rana kept meeting the poor and the suffering with great warmth and kept giving them time, without caring for himself.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also got the news of Rana's death late in the evening, he too could not sleep. How could he forget that even amidst the hustle and bustle of elections, Rana had been demanding a degree college and PHC in his area, so that the people of the area could benefit? Manoj Sinha could not meet Rana on the day Rana took oath as MLA. They spoke on the phone, and then it was discussed that they would meet soon, but Rana himself left soon for Anant's journey, the two could not meet.

Acceptable in every class, every party
There are very few leaders in Indian politics these days who are accepted not only by their own party but also by the leaders of other parties. Devendra Rana was also one of such rare people, on hearing the news of his death, not only BJP leaders but even political enemies were seen remembering him with great intensity, be it PDP's Mehbooba Mufti or Farooq Abdullah or CM Omar Abdullah. Omar expressed his grief by sharing many pictures of his days with Rana on Instagram, father Farooq also looked very emotional, he praised the works of Devendra Singh Rana, who was once a prominent leader of the party. CM Omar also visited Rana's house in Jammu.

Devendra Rana used to utilize his leisure time in his own style.

You will be missed a lot, Devendra Rana…
The question arises as to why am I remembering Devendra Rana so intensely. I had my only meeting with him on 2 December 2023, but it left a deep impression on my heart. His tremendous knowledge about the politics of Jammu and Kashmir was on one hand, but the art of maintaining personal relationships, etiquette, and courtesy were his special qualities. My mother passed away in June, and a very emotional message came from her. The last message came on this 22 October. I did a podcast on the early life of Amit Shah, and Rana's WhatsApp message came - I liked it very much, can I repost it on my social media handle? Can you expect such politeness and courtesy in today's times? These were his qualities, due to which I am leaving everything and writing this memoir. Truly, you will be missed a lot, Devendra Rana. You will also be remembered by those whom you helped throughout their lives, got a daughter married, and got an old man treated. Whether it was a big place or the compound of his own house, Rana kept meeting the poor and the suffering with great warmth and kept giving them time, without caring about himself. That is why today everyone is remembering him, even me.