6 days ago
‘Not my responsibility now': Smriti Irani on her reduced attacks on Rahul Gandhi
Former union minister Smriti Irani has said it is no longer part of her responsibilities to attack Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. 'Pehle ye mera dayitva tha. Ab nahin hai. (Earlier it was my responsibility. Now it's not),' the former MP said in reply to a question about her apparently reduced attacks on Gandhi, whom she had famously defeated from family stronghold Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Senior BJP leader Smriti Irani spoke about how she wrested Amethi from Rahul Gandhi in 2019.(PTI File)
She claimed she would have 'absolutely' defeated Rahul Gandhi if he were to be Congress candidate against her in 2024 too: 'That's why he did not contest (from Amethi)."
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress fielded KL Sharma from Amethi who defeated Irani, while Rahul Gandhi won from neighbouring Rae Bareli besides Wayanad in Kerala.
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'The Gandhi family refused to fight me in 2024. What can I say when they did not even enter the battlefield? I cannot just be chasing them,' Irani further said in an interview with India Today TV.
'History shows Amethi has not been an easy seat. Senior leaders like Sharad Yadav have lost there. Even Maneka Gandhi lost from Amethi, even though she was from the family,' Smriti Irani further added.
'No intelligent leader chooses a seat where defeat appears imminent. As a party worker, though, if one is given that seat to fight, one accepts it as a duty. In 2019, I turned the impossible into possible,' she said, adding that she worked a lot in the constituency after losing to Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 contest.
She said the Gandhi family always chose Amethi as its 'social equation' is favourable to them.
'There is difference between performance and political equation,' she said, when asked why she could not win in 2024, 'I would have been disappointed if people said I did not work for them. But they instead say I worked a lot… You are speaking of political results. I have worked for the national interest.'
Smriti Irani on 'Kyunki Saas Bhi…' return and political future
She dismissed talk that she's moving away from politics, and giving more time to acting with the return of the TV series 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' that made her a household name as central character 'Tulsi'.
'I have not moved away. But I understand I have to face more taunts since I have defeated the Congress president (Rahul Gandhi in 2019),' she said.
As to why she had returned to TV acting, she laughed and chose to give what she called a 'childish' answer: 'Meri marzi (It's my choice)!'
Also read | 'If someone is...': What Smriti Irani said on Bollywood's 'silence' on Operation Sindoor
'I have always been like this! People do not usually have multiple choices in life. I have them. I do not believe in living a small life. What's life if lived with just one perspective,' she added.
Smriti Irani's plans for 2029
This is not a political retirement at all, she said, 'Who retires at 49? People aren't even able to start their (political) careers at 49. I have been an MP thrice; been a minister for five departments. There's still a long way to go.'
Asked if and how she would return to Parliament, she said, 'I know not what responsibility the party will give me. But I do know I established my credentials with my work as an MP.'
She sought to underline that she had done politics of the street when the Congress-led UPA was in power at the centre and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party was ruling UP. 'I have done dharna (protest) politics too. I have been through the fire,' she said.
To a pointed question if she would contest the 2029 election from Amethi, she replied, 'I cannot predict what the party will decide. Maybe the party will decide something in 2026, or even 2025.'
She denied, however, that she was asked to contest the Delhi assembly polls in early 2025, in which the BJP managed to dislodge Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
