From deciding School Book Content to exporting handcrafted fiber: What's next for Smriti Irani?

BANGALORE: Who can ever forget “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi”! It was the bomb in the mid 2000s. Daughters, mothers, sisters, and even fathers and brothers used to watch and cry like a baby with “Tulsi Virani”. 14 years later, Tulsi Virani a.k.a Smriti Irani gave a tough fight to INC president Rahul Gandhi in the general elections, and was rewarded for her efforts. On 26 May 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed her as the Minister of Human Resource Development in his cabinet. It has been two years since then, and madam Irani has made some good and many bad decisions. Though she wooed us all with her theatrics in Parliament! Favoritism towards Vishram Jamdar to appoint him as the Chairman of VNIT-Nagpur, misrepresenting her educational qualifications, and asking IITs to teach Sanskrit, were a few controversies that surrounded her! But were these the reason that she was sacked as the HRD minister?

Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Goa, these are the states where general elections would be held in 2017. Interestingly, a trio of a non-Yadav backward, a non-Jatav Dalit and a Brahmin minister has been hand-picked by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Uttar Pradesh. Along with Modi, UP now have 16 ministers in keeping with the 71 MPs that the BJP got from the state in the 2014 parliamentary polls. So this is a mere balancing act for poll-bound UP? The Smriti Irani exit elevates the question even further! From the day she has been HRD minister, she has been surrounded with nothing but controversy. The way she handled the Rohith Vemula, and Kanahaiya Kumar case made BJP’s image deplete somewhat in the eyes of Indian youth. So, was the decision taken just to deny opposition to use it as a leverage in the elections to come? Or is there something big waiting for Smriti Irani? Rajdeep Sardesai tweeted “@smritiirani vs Priyanka in UP would be great!!” So will BJP cast her as the CM candidate in UP? Mere speculations, up till now! But who knows! The way 16 ministers has been kept with the 71 MPs that the BJP got from the state in the 2014 parliamentary polls, it can be said that everything that happened in the cabinet reshuffle does have a hidden motive! Only time will tell!

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