A Lesson For Smriti Irani

High On Rhetoric And Low On Performance, The Former Hrd Minister Loses Her Job, And Her Clout.

- Uday Mahurkar

In the run-up to the 2014 general elections, then BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi memorably told an audience in Amethi, the fiefdom of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi: “Smriti Irani is my younger sister.” Within two years, the pampered sister turned into a liability at the high-profile human resource development ministry, picking fights at the slightest provocation, and eventually locking horns with Big Brother himself. When she drafted a bill aimed at almost destroying the autonomy of the premier Indian Institutes of Management the PM disagreed but Irani would not budge. Not just that, when yoga guru Ramdev, backed by Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, sent her a proposal on a Vedic Education Board, she turned it down.

And then one Tuesday evening, she found herself out of the ministry, shifted to textiles, till now headed by a minister of state. Irani finally paid the price for courting too many controversies, and being high on rhetoric but low on actual performance. Her wild temper and galling arrogance made it impossible for the ministry to function smoothly. “Several bureaucrats asked to be shifted out while university vice-chancellors were wary of meeting her. She was always suspicious of their motives,” says an NCERT official.