Agencies, New Delhi
Two decades back on the ‘idiot box’, she was a lanky, smiling but a virtuous Bahu. In circa 2019 she has emerged a giant slayer having breached Amethi – the bastion of Nehru-Gandhi family.
Smriti Irani is certainly one of the major achievers and a much talked about news maker of 2019 general elections.
Born on March 23, 1976 – at the age of 43 – Smriti Irani is seen as a leader of the future in the saffron party.
A first time lawmaker in the Lower House, the Union Minister has been in the Rajya Sabha but her electoral performance this year certainly outshines other elected members and to an extent her own.
She humbled Rahul Gandhi by a margin of 55,120 votes. The grand old party had lost Amethi last in 1998 to Sanjay Singh, who had had contested on BJP ticket. But Singh is also known for his ‘nexus’ with the Parivar.
Irani’s win shows her determination and of course the trust and the ‘power of the assignment’ vested in her by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. No win is complete, if you do not make the king run from his fiefdom.
That’s exactly what happened in Amethi. Making her debut in public life through television, critics say Smriti Irani has maneuvered her way among the top brass among the political class.
Initially she was said to have been spotted by the Late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, but at later stage she developed good working relations with party leaders in Gujarat.
It can be well said that Smriti Irani has held by position through a combination of accident, pragmatic politics and good oratory power.
Ms Irani could get a ‘more important portfolio’ this time. Between 2014 and 2019, she held portfolios of Human Resource Development and Information and Broadcasting and Textiles.