Cong leader from MP Jamuna Devi passes away

Devi, who was born on November 29, 1929, at Sardarpur in tribal Dhar district, was elected as the Leader of Opposition for the first time in 2003 and was again given the responsibility to lead the Opposition for a second term last year.

A veteran tribal woman leader, she represented Kukshi in Dhar district in the state Assembly.Devi was also the member of the first Assembly of the Madhya Bharat State (1952-57) and later got elected as Lok Sabha member from Jhabua seat (1962-67). She was also the member of Rajya Sabha from 1978-81.

In the year 1985, Devi was elected as the member of the state Assembly and inducted as Minister of State (independent charge) in the Madhya Pradesh Cabinet. She rose to become a Cabinet Minister in the state in the year 1993 after she was elected as an MLA for the third term.

In 1998, she again won the polls for the third time and was inducted as the first woman deputy Chief Minister.In 2003, though Congress lost the power in Madhya Pradesh, Jamuna Devi was elected as MLA for the fifth time and was elected as the Leader of Opposition.
She was again given the responsibility of leading the Opposition in 2008, when she was elected as MLA for the sixth term.

Devi also served the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in various capacities in her long political career.