Nirmala Sitharaman, who represents Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, has found a place in all three governments headed by Narendra Modi since 2014.
Nirmala was finance minister in Modi 2.0 and presented five budgets in a row.
Having been a Rajya Sabha MP since 2014, she served as minister of state for finance and corporate affairs and minister for commerce and industry, before she took over as the country’s first full-time woman defence minister in 2017 and the finance minister in 2019.
Nirmala was born in a Tamil Iyengar Brahmin family and her father was a Railways employee. She joined BJP in 2006 and became the party's national spokesperson in 2010.
In June 2014, Nirmala was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh. In May 2016, she was elected to the Upper House of parliament from Karnataka.
Prior to joining BJP, she was a salesperson at Habitat (a home decor store in London). She also served as assistant to an economist of the agricultural engineers' association (UK).
She has also worked as a senior manager (research and development department) for PWC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and at the BBC World Service. She was also a member of the National Commission for Women.
Published 09 June 2024, 22:25 IST