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Smriti Irani

About Smriti Irani

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Who is Smriti Irani?

Smriti Irani, who had been the Minister for Textiles in the latter part of the first term of the Narendra Modi government, was given charge of the Union Women and Child Development ministry in the second term of Modi's Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance government.
 
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Irani had emerged as a 'giant killer'. Contesting from the high-profile Amithi seat in Uttar Pradesh, Irani defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by a margin of 55,120 votes. She polled 49.71 per cent the votes cast in the constituency, compared with Gandhi's vote share of 43.86 per cent.
Earlier, in the first term of the Modi government, Irani was also the Minister of Information and Broadcasting (from July 18, 2017 to May 14, 2018). And, she had been the Minister of Human Resource Development from May 26, 2014, to July 5, 2016.
 
Smriti Irani attended Delhi's Holy Child Auxilium School which is run by Catholic nuns. Later, she enrolled in the School of Open Learning at University of Delhi (DU) . In 2019, she revealed that she had written her first-year B Com exams from the institution, but had not completed the three-year course.
 
A former television actress, Irani joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2003. In 2004, she was made the vice-president of the Maharashtra Youth Wing of the BJP. She rose up the ranks to become a National Secretary in 2010 and a spokesperson for the party in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In the 2014 general elections, too, Irani had been fielded by the BJP for the Amethi seat against Gandhi. However, she had lost to Gandhi in his family's pocket borough by a margin of 107,923 votes. Later, she had become a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat.
 
Also during Modi's first term in office, a controversy had erupted over Irani's educational qualifications in 2015. She was accused of filing contradictory affidavits regarding the same on two different instances. In one affidavit, she claimed to have completed her graduation, whereas another stated that she was 12th pass. Irani had also claimed that she held a certificate from the Yale University, which later turned out to be a 6-day training programme attended by a group of MPs. 

Latest Updates on Smriti Irani

Former BJP MP Irani referred to the Congress group as the 'samosa caucus' and mocked them for their past actions and statements

Updated On: 10 Nov 2024 | 7:46 AM IST

BJP members continued to protest in the J&K Assembly on Thursday against the resolution and three party MLAs were marshalled out on the directions of Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather

Updated On: 07 Nov 2024 | 2:48 PM IST

'Indian women are stepping out, taking charge, and doing it in a way no one saw coming. We should talk about this more,' said Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Updated On: 27 Sep 2024 | 1:27 PM IST

Irani also highlighted India's achievement of administering 2.2 billion doses of vaccine in less than three months

Updated On: 17 Sep 2024 | 9:54 AM IST

The party's membership drive in the JJ clusters were held under the leadership of Union minister Harsh Malhotra and Alka Gurjar, co-in-charge of BJP's Delhi unit

Updated On: 08 Sep 2024 | 11:18 PM IST

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi calls for respectful discourse amid criticism of Smriti Irani following her defeat in the Lok Sabha elections

Updated On: 12 Jul 2024 | 4:39 PM IST

Lok Sabha elections 2024: BJP's Raebareli candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh had called Kishori Lal Sharma a "peon" and "Priyanka Gandhi's "clerk" after the party gave him a ticket from Amethi

Updated On: 06 Jun 2024 | 2:44 PM IST

Lok Sabha elections 2024 results: Smriti Irani lost to Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma by a margin of 167,196 votes in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi

Updated On: 05 Jun 2024 | 4:36 PM IST

Interestingly, Irani was dubbed a giant slayer in 2019 after she defeated Rahul Gandhi from the seat in the last general elections

Updated On: 05 Jun 2024 | 7:20 AM IST

As the d-day has finally arrived, with the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections being revealed today, June 4, here is the complete list of winners

Updated On: 04 Jun 2024 | 3:16 PM IST

In 2019, Irani had defeated Rahul Gandhi from the seat, considered to be one of the strongholds of the grand old party

Updated On: 04 Jun 2024 | 2:33 PM IST

Amit Shah, Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur, Rajeev Chandrasekhar are among the ministers contesting these Lok Sabha 2024 elections. This is what trends indicate for their seats

Updated On: 04 Jun 2024 | 8:04 PM IST

The Sikkim High Court registry said that women staff members are entitled to take 2-3 days of menstrual leave each month

Updated On: 29 May 2024 | 12:42 PM IST

Irani alleged that the BJD government had fostered land, coal, sand, and mining mafias in the state, with ministers, MLAs, supporters

Updated On: 25 May 2024 | 2:59 PM IST

Irani asked how Kejriwal can speak on women's security in the country when his party's women members are not safe in his residence.

Updated On: 23 May 2024 | 1:26 PM IST

The Election Commission said voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm

Updated On: 20 May 2024 | 2:20 PM IST

Lok Sabha elections 2024 Phase 5: Catch all the latest developments related to the General Elections 2024 here

Updated On: 20 May 2024 | 9:42 PM IST

Elections in Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located, have been fairly predictable until 2019 with the regional Shiv Sena party dominating in alliance with the BJP

Updated On: 20 May 2024 | 12:03 PM IST

'Amethi is my home and family, we have never stayed away from it and never will,' said Priyanka Gandhi, who was in Amethi and Rae Bareli in UP to campaign for Sharma and Rahul Gandhi, respectively

Updated On: 18 May 2024 | 9:58 PM IST

This sentiment is echoed in most parts of Amethi, where people refer to Congress candidate Kishorilal Sharma'as Gandhi's 'doot (ambassador)'

Updated On: 13 May 2024 | 11:29 PM IST