Smriti Irani – from an actress to a cabinet Minister

  • Keshav Chhabra

From a finalist in Femina Miss India 1998 to the lead role of Tulsi Virani in Ekta Kapoor’s hit TV serial and now, the youngest cabinet minister in the 2014 Narendra Modi led government, Roads have been diverging for Smriti Zubin Irani, but one way or the other has led her to success.

With her highest education of high school and her past revealing stories of hers, sweeping floors of Mc Donalds to meet the financial needs, she emerged as a tough competitor for the Congress Vice President, Mr. Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, for the sea of Amethi.

Elections in Lok Sabha have not been very pleasant for Mrs. Smriti Irani. In 2004, she lost against Kapil Sibbal from Chandni Chowk constituency and during the recent 2014 elections, she lost against Rahul Gandhi from Amethi. But the loss could not stop her from being a brigadier of the army of ministers of the fifteenth Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi. Mrs. Smriti Irani, now, is the new minister of Human Resource Development in the cabinet.

Choosing someone younger like Smriti Irani over experienced and aged Murli Manohar Joshi narrates the intentions of the Modi Sarkar, their priorities being the empowerment of women and youth. Modi’s council of ministers has 7 women, one among them is Mrs. Irani (38), is the youngest from the cabinet ministers of the PM.

By giving Irani an important place, Modi on one hand has shown his support to the rise of women in the nation, and at the same time, emphasized on the power of youth in the country. These two, being the major expectations from the new government, the decision has brought appreciation for Modi in media and public.

This step led to the exclusion of the two very important leaders of the BJP, Mr. L K Advani and Mr. Joshi. But this exclusion surely received more welcome than protests. Modi has been smart, at the same time, by including Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari in the cabinet. The former is not so close to Modi, while the latter has been very close to RSS. So, the choice of the ministers is done wisely, to maintain the efficiency of the government and by taking all the communities together.

Meanwhile, controversies seem to have surrounded the new HRD minister, Smriti Irani. While Ajay Maken, Congress politician, raised the question of her educational qualification, there are also questions for her filing the wrong information about her educational qualification in 2004 Lok sabha elections. Although many leaders have supported her, by saying that she should be 
judged by her work rather than the degrees.

Smriti Irani surely seems to have a bright future in the politics of India. She is very young and has already set a landmark in theModi Cabinet. A lot is expected from her, as the minister of Human Rsource Development. And many believe, that she will work hard. But it can not be neglected that Smriti Irani holds the potential to climb higher the ladder of politics in the future. “With great power, comes great responsibility.”

[author image=”http://www.aapkatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Keshav.jpg” ]A student of literature at University of Delhi. Spends lot of time reading and writing. Traveller. Sachinist. Writings can be reached at www.exploringroses.blogspot.com[/author]

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