Nirmala Sitharaman

Nirmala Sitharaman
Minister of Defence
Assumed office
3 September 2017
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Preceded by Arun Jaitley
Minister of Commerce and Industry[1]
In office
26 May 2014 – 3 September 2017
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Preceded by Anand Sharma
Succeeded by Suresh Prabhu
Spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party
In office
2010–2014
Succeeded by Shaina NC
MP of Rajya Sabha for Karnataka [2]
Assumed office
1 July 2016
Preceded by M. Venkaiah Naidu, BJP
MP of Rajya Sabha for Andhra Pradesh
In office
26 June 2014 – 21 June 2016
Preceded by N. Janardhana Reddy, Indian National Congress
Succeeded by Suresh Prabhu
Personal details
Born (1959-08-18) 18 August 1959
Madurai, Madras State
(now Tamil Nadu)
Political party Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s) Parakala Prabhakar
Children 1
Residence Bangalore, Karnataka, India[3][4]
Alma mater Seethalakshmi Ramaswamy College , Tiruchirapalli
Jawaharlal Nehru University

Nirmala Sitharaman (born 18 August 1959) is an Indian politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party, currently serving as the Minister of Defence in the Narendra Modi government. She is also a member of the Rajya Sabha for Karnataka. Sitharaman is India's second female defense minister since India's independence from British colonialism in August 1947.

Sitharaman has formerly served as the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs under the Ministry of Finance and the Minister for Commerce and Industry with independent charge. Prior to that, she has served as a national spokesperson for the BJP.[5]

Personal life

Nirmala was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu to Narayanan and Savitri. Her father, Narayanan Sitaraman, hailed from Musiri, Tiruchirappalli district, while her mother's family had its roots in Thiruvenkadu, Thanjavur District and Salem district. Her father was an employee of Indian Railways and hence she spent her childhood in various parts of the state. She had her schooling from Madras and Tiruchirappalli.[6] She obtained a BA in economics at the Seethalakshmi Ramaswamy College in Tiruchirapalli. And her Master's degree in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.[7]

She met her husband Parakala Prabhakar, from Narsapuram Andhra Pradesh, while studying at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. While Nirmala leaned towards the BJP, her husband was from a pro-Congress family.[8] He served as a communications advisor to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu.[9][10]

Political career

Nirmala Sitharaman joined the BJP in 2008 and has served as a spokesperson for the party. In 2014, she was inducted in Narendra Modi's cabinet as a junior minister.

In May 2016, she was one of the 12 candidates nominated by the BJP to contest the Rajya Sabha elections due on 11 June 2016. She successfully contested her seat from Karnataka.[11] On 3 September 2017, she was elevated to Defence Minister, being only the second woman after Indira Gandhi to hold the Defence Minister post.[12][13]

Non-political career

Outside the political sphere, Sitharaman has served as an assistant to Economist in the Agricultural Engineers Association in the UK. During her stay in the UK, she has also served as a Senior Manager (R&D)[10] for Price Waterhouse and briefly at the BBC World Service.[14] She has also served as a member of National Commission for Women.[15] In 2017, she was one of the founding directors of Pranava school in Hyderabad.[16]

References

  1. ↑ http://commerce.nic.in/bio/CIMBiodata.pdf
  2. ↑ "Nirmala Sitharaman Wins Rajya Sabha Seat From Karnataka, Congress Gets 3".
  3. ↑ "National Leadership from Andhra Pradesh - Official BJP site of Andhra Pradesh Nirmala sitharaman's address and contact information".
  4. ↑ "Official BJP National website".
  5. ↑ "Deccan Chronicle: BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman gets NJR Rajya Sabha seat". 4 June 2014.
  6. ↑ Phadnis, Aditi (4 September 2017). "The rise and rise of Nirmala Sitharaman: From spokesperson to defence minister". Business Standard. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  7. ↑ Narayanan, Chitra; T.C.A., Srinivasa Raghavan (8 June 2011). "'Like water on a lotus leaf'". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  8. ↑ "Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : BJP spokesperson finds her new role challenging". The Hindu. 3 April 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "AP govt advisor and Nirmala Sitharaman's husband Parakala Prabhakar quits, blames Jagan".
  10. 1 2 "In Nirmala Sitharaman, India Gets Its Second Woman Defence Minister After Indira Gandhi". Huffington Post India. 2017-09-03. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
  11. ↑ "Naidu, Naqvi, Goyal among 12 in BJP's RS list". ABP Live. 29 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "Nirmala Sitharaman Joins Cabinet: GST and Start-Up Success Pays Dividend". News18. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  13. ↑ "Modi Cabinet reshuffle: Full list of new council of ministers", The Times of India, 3 September 2017
  14. ↑ Mohua Chatterjee, TNN (21 March 2010). "BJP gets a JNU product as its woman spokesparson". Indiatimes.com. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  15. ↑ "Who is Nirmala Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman Defence Minister". Financial Express. 3 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  16. ↑ "Management | Pranava". Pranavatheschool.org. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
Political offices
Preceded by
Anand Sharma		 Minister of Commerce and Industry
2014–2017
As Minister of State (Independent Charge)		 Succeeded by
Suresh Prabhu
Preceded by
Arun Jaitley		 Minister of Defence
2017 – Present		 Incumbent
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