Patna/New Delhi: Union HRD minister Smriti Irani and Bihar education minister Ashok Choudhary were on Tuesday locked in a bitter war of words on Twitter after the Congress leader addressed her as “dear”. Issues of etiquette in official communication also cropped up during the barrage of tweets unleashed by the two against each other.
Choudhary in a tweet on Tuesday referred to the Human Resources Development (HRD) minister as “Dear” Smriti Irani ji and said that rather than focus on politics and speeches, she should pay attention to the New Education Policy. Irani, who is currently touring Bihar, shot back asking Choudhary that since when did he begin addressing women as “dear”. “Mahilaon ko ‘dear’ keh ke kab se sambodhit karne lage Ashokji?”
Choudhary, who is also the state president of Congress, responded that it was “Not to disrespect but educate... Professional emails start with “dear”.” In his tweet, he asked Irani to answer the real issue and not “circle around it.”
“@AshokChoudhary all my communications to you or any other person start with ‘adarniya’, but since you are now communicating allow me 1/3,” Irani said in another tweet.
The senior BJP leader further told the Bihar minister that his state’s views on education policy had not been provided to her and “neither did you in your 1 on 1 meeting with me give any suggestions”.
She claimed that Bihar is possibly the only state which has not done grassroot consultations for the education policy. Choudhary, however, launched a counter-attack, tweeting, “@smritiirani ji has learnt a lot from Modiji...Fake promises and shifting blames to others for non-delivery is lesson1 in Sangh’s book.”
