The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): Union Minister of State for Home, Nisith Pramanik, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Cooch Behar constituency as a BJP candidate, has revealed in his electoral affidavit that he is currently embroiled in 14 criminal cases. These cases, as per the affidavit filed with his nomination papers, span from allegations of attempt to murder, rioting, house trespass, to unlawful assembly.
The affidavit details that nine out of the 14 cases were registered between 2018 and 2020, a period following Pramanik’s induction into the BJP in 2019. Prior to his BJP membership, he was part of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) until his expulsion in 2018 for allegedly backing independent candidates in the state’s panchayat elections against the TMC’s nominees in Cooch Behar. The remaining cases trace back to the years between 2009 and 2014.
A BJP district functionary defended Pramanik, claiming that the criminal charges are politically motivated, predominantly filed after his departure from the TMC. Pramanik himself asserted in his affidavit that no charges have been formally framed against him in any of the cited cases, with the majority of these being lodged in Cooch Behar district and a couple in Alipurduar.
Comparatively, Pramanik had declared 11 pending criminal cases in his 2019 Lok Sabha election affidavit. The recent affidavit also discloses his annual income for the fiscal year 2023-24 as Rs 12.34 lakh, up from Rs 10.72 lakh the previous year. It mentions his professional background as an assistant teacher and notes his spouse as a homemaker.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Pramanik successfully captured the Cooch Behar seat for the BJP, a constituency previously held by the TMC in both the 2014 general elections and a subsequent 2016 by-election, prompted by the death of TMC MP Renuka Sinha. The forthcoming election for this seat is scheduled for April 19.