New Delhi: Union Human resources evelopment minister Smriti Irani, who lost to the Congress’ Kapil Sibal in 2004, gave a tough fight to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in the just-concluded election. She lost by a margin of just over one lakh votes to Mr Gandhi in his own bastion.
Following this, Mr Modi, who had campaigned for her in Amethi, gave her a berth in his Cabinet and allotted her the crucial HRD ministry.
Despite the controversy and the contradictions over her academic qualifications, Ms Irani got surprising support from unexpected quarters. Congress leader and former minister of state for information and broadcasting Manish Tewari, clearly expressed disapproval of the bid to target her over her qualifications, saying “a distinction must be made between literacy, education and intelligence. Such individual attacks are avoidable”.
He then added, “Our critique of the new government should be on substantive policy issues rather than being individual or personality-centric.” It may be recalled that Congress leader Ajay Maken had tweeted on Tuesday: “Education Minister Smriti Irani ‘Not Even Graduate’!”
It is learnt that most Congress leaders are upset with Mr Maken for his “tasteless” and “crude” remarks.
