Renu Devi

Renu Devi was borne on 01 November 1959, to Krishna Prasad who belonged to an extremely backward community, Nonia. She could received her education only till 12th standard from Mahanth Darshan Das Mahila College, Muzaffarpur. At a very young age in 1973, she was married to Durga Prasad an insurance inspectorr in Howrah, West Bengal.

Following the sudden death of her husband merely within 7 years of marriage, she had to come back to Bettiah in Bihar, her mother's place. A single mother of 2 children, Renu Devi started taking interest in RSS activities as her mother had an association with it. She was also an activist of Durga Vahini, the women wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

When BJP was formed, she joined the party and became an active member of its women's wing Bharteeya Mahila Morcha and led the campaign in Charmparan region of Bihar. She was very active during Ram Janmbhumi movement led by BJP stalwart Lal Krishna Advani and was arrested in 1990.

She also worked as the general secretary and president of BJP's Bihar Mahila Morcha and contested her first election for Bihar legislative assembly in 1995 but couldn't win. In 2000, she finally debuted in the legislative assembly of Bihar as an MLA from Bettiah and retained the seat until 2015 when she lost to the then grand alliance. In 2020, she again won the MLA election from Bettiah and became the first women Deputy Chief Minister of the state under the Nitish Kumar led NDA government in the state.