Who is Pratima Bhoumik? 1st permanent Tripura resident to get union cabinet berth

New Delhi, July 08: Pratima Bhoumik popularly known as 'Pratima di' Wednesday scripted history, becoming the only politician from Tripura to be sworn-in as a central minister. She is now appointed as Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Bhoumik is known to be a close confidante of Tripura CM Biplab Deb.

Her induction as Union minister of state coincides with the resignation of Debasree Chaudhuri, the only Bengali woman in Modi cabinet, who was the minister of state for women and child development ministry.

Bhoumik, 52, is a Lok Sabha MP for Tripura West in Tripura, serving her first term as MP. She comes from a humble background, and practises farming. She holds a graduate degree in Bio-Science from Women''s College, Tripura University.

In 2018, Bhoumik contested against former Tripura chief minister Sarkar in the assembly polls. She lost by a small margin of little more than 3,000 votes. In 2019, she won Tripura West parliamentary seat by a huge margin.

Bhoumik was among the 36 new inductees who were sworn in the new council of ministers on Wednesday.