12 Unknown Facts About Nirmala Sitharaman: The Sales Girl Bit Will Surprise You

Nirmala Sitharaman is back in news. Over the last few days ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a full cabinet meeting, rumours are abuzz in political circles about the FM being replaced. With veteran banker KV Kamath recently demitting office from NDB, he is tipped to be the next finance minister. With his proximity to the Ambanis, a rumour is floating around that Kamath may well replace Sitharaman.

Now, why is there a sudden talk about Nirmala being on her way out? What do we know about the present Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman? Here you go.

1. Did you know that before handling the finance portfolio, Nirmala was the defence minister in 2014?
2. Nirmala Sitharaman is only second woman finance minister after Indira Gandhi.
   
3. She is the first woman to hold the office full time. Indira Gandhi handled it as an additional portfolio when she was the Prime Minister between 1970-71.
   
4. For all those who doubt the current FM's business acumen, Nirmala Sitharaman holds a masters degree in Economics from JNU, Delhi.
   
5. Nirmala Sitharaman worked as senior manager (research and analysis) with Price Waterhouse, London.
   
6. Before that, Nirmala Sitharaman worked as sales girl at home decor store, Habitat in London for a brief time. But in her brief stint, Nirmala recorded highest sales during Christmas.
   
7. Nirmala also worked with the BBC for sometime.
   
8. She was the BJP spokesperson in 1991 under Ravi Shankar Prasad. She eventually rose in rank and popularity after Nitin Gadkari became the party spokesperson.
   
9. Interestingly, she is married to Parakala Prabhakar who hails from a family of Congressmen.
   
10. On her return to India, Nirmala set up a school for underprivileged kids in Hyderabad along with a policy research centre.
    
11. Between 2003 and 2005, Nirmala Sitharaman was also a member of the National Commission For Women (NCW).
    
12. Apparently, the finance minister spends 3 hours in a day reading newspapers.
    

I am sure you were as surprised to know so many interesting facts about Nirmala Sitharaman.