Pratima Di Becomes the First Tripura Politician to join Union Cabinet

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 8 July 2021

Pratima Bhowmik, popularly known as 'Pratima di,' 52 years old, made history by becoming the first Tripura politician to be sworn in as a central minister.

Previously, Tripura MPs Santosh Mohan Deb and Triguna Sen were elected and appointed to the central cabinet. They were not, however, from Tripura. Sen was from West Bengal, whereas Deb was from Silchar in Assam.

On Bhowmick's achievement, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb tweeted: "A moment of immense pride for #Tripura that @PratimaBhoumik ji, foremost representative of #NariShakti of the state, has joined PM Shri @narendramodi led Union Council of Ministers."

Bhowmick is a first-time MP who was elected in the last general election from the West Tripura constituency. Prior to this, she was the general secretary of the BJP's Tripura unit, but she resigned after being elected as a Member of Parliament and now serves as the state unit's vice-president.

Bhowmik, a science graduate from Tripura Women's College in this city, has always kept a low profile despite being an active politician for a long time.

She was elected as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party to the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of parliament, from Tripura West. In January 2016, she was appointed State General Secretary to Tripura's current chief minister, Shri Biplab Kumar Deb. She is from the village of Baranarayan in the Sonamura sub-division. She has been a member of the BJP since 1991.

On July 7, 2021, she was appointed to the Central Ministry. She is also the minister of state for social justice and empowerment.

Pratima Bhowmik, the Lok Sabha MP for Tripura West, donated Rs 1,000,000 from her first month's salary to Assam flood relief.