New Delhi: Trinamool Congress will not allow Minister of State for Home Nisith Pramanik to reply or intervene in either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha because of his citizenship, the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said Monday.
There has been an ongoing controversy around Pramanik’s citizenship with the Trinamool Congress alleging that he is a Bangladeshi national.
Trinamool leaders in both Houses had also shouted slogans on the first day of the Monsoon session Monday and did not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduce his newly-inducted Council of Ministers because of Pramanik’s nationality.
Party MP Sudeep Bandopadhyay raked up the issue in the Lok Sabha while his counterpart in Rajya Sabha, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, raised a point of order questioning Pramanik’s nationality.
“This is our unique form of protest in the morning. The reason why we did not allow him (PM) to introduce his ministers is because the ministers are supposed to be citizens of India. The MoS (Home), who has been inducted, is not a citizen of India. He is a citizen of Bangladesh. He has been made a part of the floor of the House,” said O’Brien, who is also Trinamool’s national spokesperson, in a virtual press conference after both Houses were adjourned.
He added that the Trinamool Congress will continue to raise this issue whenever the minister is in the House.
“This is why we did not let him introduce the council of ministers. If he (PM) had taken Indian leaders in his Council of Ministers, we would not have had any issue,” the MP said.
According to O’Brien, Pramanik has wrongly claimed in his Lok Sabha profile that he was born in West Bengal.
The Rajya Sabha MP noted that Ripun Bora, the Congress leader from Assam, had also sought an inquiry into the allegations that Pramanik is a Bangladeshi national.
ThePrint reached Pramanik for a comment on the matter via telephone but no response was received till the publishing of this report despite multiple attempts.
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Who is Nisith Pramanik?
According to Pramanik’s profile on the Lok Sabha website, he was born in Dinhata in West Bengal’s Coochbehar district on 17 January 1986.
The profile further noted that he has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Applications and was a teacher before he joined politics.
The 35-year-old minister is a first-time MP and was part of the Trinamool before joining the BJP. He was a youth wing leader with the former but was expelled in 2018. He joined the BJP soon after.
Pramanik also contested the recent assembly elections in West Bengal and was the only MP who won his seat. He later resigned from his seat to retain his Lok Sabha membership.
(Edited by Rachel John)
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