Nirmala Sitharaman is an Indian politician who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party. She currently serves as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of India. Sitharaman has been a member of the Karnataka Lok Sabha since 2014.
Wiki/Biography
Nirmala Sitharaman was born on 18 August 1959 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu (age 65; as of 2024). Her zodiac sign is Leo. Her childhood was spent in different parts of Tamil Nadu as her father worked for the Indian Railways and his job was transferable. She went to school in Madras and Tiruchirappalli. Sitharaman graduated in economics from Lakshmi Miramaswamy College, Sitara, and went to Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, to pursue a master’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in philosophy (M.Phill).
Nirmala Sitharaman’s college days
She was introduced to politics at Jinan University, where she actively campaigned for Nalini Ranjan Mohanty’s presidential post while living in Godavari hostel. Sitharaman then studied for a PhD in the Indo-European textile trade, but was unable to complete her studies as her husband received a scholarship to the London School of Economics and they moved to London. In London, Nirmala worked as a saleswoman at Habitat, a home décor store in Regent Street, London.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5’4”
Weight (approximately): 55kg
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family, caste and husband
Nirmala Sitharaman belongs to the Tamil Iyengar Brahmin family. Her father Narayanan Sitaraman is an Indian Railways employee and her mother K. Savitri is a housewife. She has a sister.
Nirmala Sitharaman’s parents
Nirmala met political commentator and communications consultant Parakala Prabhakar while studying at Jawaharlal Nehru University. The two tied the knot in 1986. The couple has a daughter named Vangmayi.
Nirmala Sitharaman and her husband
Nirmala Sitharaman with husband and daughter
Profession
Nirmala started her career as an economist assistant at the Institution of Agricultural Engineers in London. She next worked as a senior manager in PwC Research in London. She subsequently worked for the BBC World Service. In 1991, Sitharaman returned to India. Here she serves as Dy. Director, Center for Public Policy Research, Hyderabad. During the NDA regime (1998-2004), Nirmala was nominated to the National Commission for Women (NCW), but when the UPA came to the Center in 2004, her tenure ended immediately. During her time in NCW, Nirmala came in contact with Sushma Swaraj and after being impressed with her work, recommended her to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Sitharaman joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2008 and was appointed party spokesperson in 2010.
Nirmala Sitharaman as BJP spokesperson
She moved to Delhi from Hyderabad. In 2014, Sitharaman became the commerce minister with independent responsibility in Narendra Modi’s cabinet. Following the cabinet reshuffle, she was promoted and made the finance and corporate affairs minister. On September 3, 2017, Nirmala succeeded Arun Jaitley and became India’s first full-time female defense minister.
Nirmala Sitharaman sworn in as Defense Minister of India
She became the second woman to hold the post after Indira Gandhi, who held the post for 20 days. On May 30, 2019, Nirmala became India’s first full-time female finance minister.
In 2024, she presented the seventh interim budget, surpassing Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, Yashwant Sinha and Morarji De record set by the game. In March 2024, she decided not to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections; she said she did not have enough money to participate. She also said her chances of winning elections in southern states were slim. On June 9, 2024, she was sworn in as a cabinet minister in the Modi 3.0 government. In July 2024, she made history by presenting her seventh consecutive budget, surpassing Morarji Desai’s record.
dispute
Outraged by her comments about death of company employee
In September 2024, Sitharaman was criticized when she spoke at a public rally in which she mentioned the demise of EY CA due to workload and claimed that people needed to be “closer to God” to help them manage stress. She further added that parents should not only focus on their children’s learning but also on their ability to handle crises and stress.
FIR filed for extortion
In September 2024, a special court in Bengaluru ordered a complaint filed against her under IPC 384 (extortion), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (act by several persons with common intention), accusing her of extorting money through electoral bonds (now defunct). .
Salary and Net Worth
Her net worth is estimated to be Rs. 26.3 Crore (as on 2019). Sitharaman was paid Rs. 1 lakh plus some other perks as a Member of Parliament.
Favorites
- Restaurant: Govinda, a restaurant at the Avatamsaka Temple in East Kailash, Delhi
fact
- Her hobbies include reading, writing, listening to classical music and cooking.
- Nirmala lives in Plot No.M-6, Green Lands, Manchirevula Vill., Rajendra Nagar Mandal, Ranga Reddy Dist., Telangana.
- Nirmala inherited her discipline from her father and her love for books from her mother.
- Globalization and its impact on developing countries was her favorite subject in college.
- Nirmala married into a “Congress-oriented” family. Her father-in-law is a minister in the Congress government of Andhra Pradesh. Her mother-in-law was a member of the Andhra Pradesh Congress in the 1970s.
- When Sitaraman was working as a shop assistant at Habitat in London, she won a bottle of Moët & Chandon for setting record Christmas sales.
- Nirmala is the co-founder of the famous school “Pranava” in Hyderabad.
- She is an avid reader and prefers to write her own press releases.
- She was an ardent follower of Lord Krishna and had a large collection of his hymns.
- Nirmala loves sarees. She has a huge collection of vintage silk and cotton Kanjeevarams.
- Surprisingly, while Sitharaman joined the ‘BJP’, her husband joined Telugu film star Chiranjeevi’s party ‘Praja Rajyam’.
- Sitharaman took an active part in debates, discussions and quizzes during her college days.
- In January 2024, an IRS officer named B. Balamurugan from Tamil Nadu was suspended for demanding Sitharaman’s dismissal. He accused her of using the education ministry for political purposes in a case in July 2023, when it summoned two Dalit farmers from Tamil Nadu in an alleged money laundering case.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education