Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani on Saturday revealed an interesting anecdote and said that Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari used to consider her a 'budhiya' (an old woman) after watching her in the daily soap opera 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'. Irani, a former Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, further said that Gadkari used to wonder why she was made the vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and had once questioned the party leaders in Maharashtra about the same.
The 49-year-old, who served as a union minister in the Modi government from 2014 to 2024, spoke about this incident during her interview at 'Aap Ki Adalat' with India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma.
Irani, the lead actor of 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi', said Gadkari thought she was a 60-year-old woman because of her appearance in the daily soap opera, which is why he opposed her appointment as the vice-president of BJYM in 2003. Gadkari, however, was satisfied after he was informed that Irani was just 25 years old back then.
"In 2003, I was made vice-president of BJP Yuva Morcha. The other vice-president was Devendra Fadnavis, who is now Maharashtra chief minister. Sujitsingh Thakur from Parbhani was our president, and there were two general secretaries, who are MLCs today," Irani said, "Nitin Ji called these leaders from Maharashtra and said, 'Kya tumhara dimaag kharab ho gaya hai. Us budhi aurat ko tumne Yuva Morcha me padadhikari banaya hai?' (Are you out of your mind? You made an old woman office-bearer of Yuva Morcha?)"
"Then, all these leaders told Nitin Ji, she is an actor doing the role of Tulsi, aged 60 years. Smriti is only 25 years old. Then Nitin Ji said, 'Okay, otherwise why should 60-year-old people be in Yuva Morcha'?" said Irani, who had defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Irani at 'Aap Ki Adalat'
Irani on Saturday appeared at 'Aap Ki Adalat' for an exclusive interview with India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma. During her interview, the former BJP MP spoke about multiple topics, including the political future of Rahul Gandhi and Congress, playing the role of 'Tulsi' and the second edition of 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi', and predicting the futures of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Delhi CM Rekha Gupta.
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