Nisith Pramanik

Nisith Pramanik (born 17 January 1986) is an Indian politician from West Bengal who has served as the Union Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Union Minister of State, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports from 2021 to 2024 and a member of the Lok Sabha represented Cooch Behar, West Bengal from 2021 to 2024 as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.^[2] He was also member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 2021 until 2021 from Dinhata Assembly constituency. He was a member of the Trinamool Congress until 2019.^[3]

Nisith Pramanik
Official portrait, 2021
Minister of State for Home Affairs, Government of India
In office 7 July 2021 – 11 June 2024
Preceded by	G. Kishan Reddy
Succeeded by	Bandi Sanjay Kumar
Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India
In office 7 July 2021 – 11 June 2024
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Minister	Anurag Thakur
Preceded by	Kiren Rijiju (as MOS (I/C))
Succeeded by	Raksha Khadse
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 23 May 2019 – 4 June 2024
Preceded by	Parthapratim Roy
Succeeded by	Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia
Constituency	Cooch Behar
Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly
In office 2 May 2021 – 12 May 2021
Preceded by	Udayan Guha
Succeeded by	Udayan Guha
Constituency	Dinhata
Personal details
Born	(1986-01-17) 17 January 1986 (age 39) Dinhata, Cooch Behar, India
Nationality	Indian [1]
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party (2019-present)
Other political affiliations	All India Trinamool Congress (until February 2019)
Spouse	Priyanka Pramanik
Children	2
Residence(s)	Dinhata and Cooch Behar, New Delhi (Previous)
Signature
Source:

Early and personal life

Pramanik was born on 17 January 1986 at the village in Palashbari Upazila, Gaibandha District of present-day Bangladesh and came to Dinhata after 1990 .^[4] He passed class 10th from Bhetaguri Lal Bahadur Sastri Vidyapith Dinhata under the State Board in 2001.^[5] He was an assistant teacher at a primary school. He is married to Priyanka Pramanik, with whom he has two sons.^[6]

Political career

The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind administering the oath as Minister of State to Shri Nisith Pramanik, at a Swearing-in Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on July 7, 2021.

He was also a member of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) before joining the BJP in March 2019.^[7][8] In July 2021, he became Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of State, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in Second Modi ministry after the Cabinet reshuffle.^[9] As of 2021, at the age of 35 he became the youngest minister in the Union Cabinet.^[10]

Controversy

In July 2021, his nationality created debate in the Indian political circle after Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora wrote a letter alleging Pramanik of being a Bangladeshi national to the Prime Minister to investigate his nationality.^[11][12] Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge ,also questioned his citizenship, while TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy also alleged he is a Bangladeshi ,citing his Wikipedia page as a reference. ^[13] The Leader of the Rajya Sabha, BJP MP Piyush Goyal, however, called the allegations baseless. ^[14]