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. He was also a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in 2021 from Dinhata Assembly constituency. He was a member of the Trinamool Congress until 2019.

Nisith Pramanik was born on 17 January 1986 in Dinhata, located in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal state, India. His parents’ ancestral home was in Harinathpur of Palashbari Upazila under Gaibandha district in Bangladesh. In 1968, his family migrated from Bangladesh and settled permanently in Dinhata, Cooch Behar. He passed class 10th from Bhetaguri Lal Bahadur Sastri Vidyapith Dinhata under the State Board in 2001. He was an assistant teacher at a primary school. He is married to Priyanka Pramanik, with whom he has two sons.

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

In July 2021, his nationality created debate in the Indian political circle after Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora wrote a letter to the Prime Minister alleging Pramanik was a Bangladeshi national to the Prime Minister and requested an investigation into his nationality. 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. The Leader of the Rajya Sabha, BJP MP Piyush Goyal, however, called the allegations baseless.

• Nisith Pramanik on Facebook
• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website