Vasudev Devnani

Vasudev Devnani is an Indian politician from Rajasthan serving as the 18th speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly since December 2024. He is also an MLA from Ajmer North. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Vasudev Devnani is the first Sindhi to become speaker in Rajasthan assembly.

Life and career Vasudev Devnani was born in Ajmer on 11 January 1950. He received B.E. degree in Electrical Engineering from one of the finest and oldest colleges, MBM Engineering college, Jodhpur. After that he went on to an academic career, eventually becoming the Dean of Vidhya Bhawan Polytechnic College in Udaipur.

Political career Devnani joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at a young age and later its student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), serving as the Rajasthan state president of the latter for nine years.

He was a Minister of State for technical education in the Ministry of Vasundhara Raje in 2003-08. He was a Minister of State with an independent charge for primary and secondary education in the Ministry of Vasundhara Raje in 2013-18.

Political and administrative views According to India Today, he is striking a balance between modernity, essential reforms and the BJP agenda of Indian culture-based education.

Among his measures are celebrating Basant Panchami in schools, singing Saraswati vandana and performing surya namaskar every day. However, his measures to introduce compulsory Saraswati puja and surya namaskar have invited opposition from the schools run by the Arya Samaj, Muslim community and the Christian missionaries.

Devnani declared that the "Indian value system" would be introduced in schools from 2015-16. He called for a National Education Regulatory Board for the fast implementation of the Indian value system in schools nationwide.

In April 2015, Devnani hit the headlines with stories that reported that Isaac Newton, Pythagoras and Akbar are being eliminated from the school textbooks. "Why should our children only learn about Akbar, the Great? Why not Maharana Pratap, the Great?" he reportedly asked. "Our children are constantly learning about foreign rulers, mathematicians, scientists et al." These "foreign" scientists and intellectuals are being eliminated in favour of "local and national" heroes, Veer Savarkar, Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Maharaja Suraj Mal, Aryabhata and Bhaskaracharya.