Senior Congress MP Ripun Bora has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to conduct an enquiry into claims in news reports that newly appointed Union Minister Nisith Pramanik is a Bangladeshi national.
In a letter that he posted on Twitter, Bora said that news channels Barak Bangla and Republic TV Tripura and digital media, India Today and Business Standard, have reported that Pramanik is a Bangladeshi national.
PTI reported, sources close to Pramanik strongly refuted the allegations, saying the minister was born, brought up and educated in India. The minister is a "patriotic Indian" who was born, brought up and educated in India and asserted that the allegations were baseless, sources said.
Pramanik (35) was inducted as a Minister of State in the Modi's Council of Ministers early this month and assigned to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Quoting the reports, Bora said that Pramanik's birthplace is Harinathpur in Gaibandha district of Bangladesh. "He came to West Bengal for computer study (sic) and after taking computer degree, he first joined Trinamool Congress and later on joined the BJP and was elected as MP from Cooch Behar," Bora said in the letter.
The news channels also reported that Pramanik showed his address as Cooch Behar in election papers "by manipulation", Bora said.
The channels also highlighted the "jubilant scenario", including a statement of "his elder brother" and some villagers of his native village in Bangladesh expressing their satisfaction on Pramanik being appointed as union minister of state for home, he added.
"If it is so, this is a very serious matter for the country, that a foreign national is appointed as a union minister. Therefore, I urge upon you to conduct an inquiry about the actual birthplace and nationality of Nisith Pramanik in a most transparent way and clarify the whole issue as it creates confusion across the country," Bora said in his letter.
(Published 17 July 2021, 13:40 IST)
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