Former Union Minister Smriti Irani recently talked about her early years in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which revealed some intriguing political dynamics in her family. She said that while Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, her father, who was a strong supporter of the Congress party, would drop her off at the gates of the Prime Minister’s house but never wanted to go inside or see the Prime Minister.
Irani joked, “Father Congress, mother Sanghi!” during an interview with India Today TV in which she went back to her former home in Delhi. She said that her father was a member of the Congress party and her mother was a big fan of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), which is the BJP’s ideological parent group.
Irani said that her maternal grandpa, who was a strong follower of the RSS, had the biggest impact on her political decisions. She said, “I remember how my nana (maternal grandfather) would walk every day to the RSS shakha (branch) in Sector 6, RK Puram.”
She went on to talk more about the early family talks on her career path: “At home, it was always like, ‘If you want to do social service, stay with the Sangh. What’s the need to go into politics?'” Irani, on the other hand, had different goals: “I wanted to be involved in crafting policies, which is why I joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Father’s Change of Heart for PM Modi
Irani revealed a touching moment when she talked about her father’s wish to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2023. She said it was different from the time of Vajpayee: “My father was a Congress supporter then and still is… When I worked for the BJP under Vajpayee-ji, he never tried to get inside the PM’s house or meet him.
But when it came to Prime Minister Modi, her father’s opinion changed. “But this was the first time he displayed such a desire; he wanted to see PM Modi and thank him for giving his daughter an opportunity to serve the country,” Irani said, showing how Modi’s leadership affected him personally.
Political Future and Return to TV
Irani, who lost the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the Amethi constituency to Congress’s Kishori Lal Sharma, is now making a big comeback to acting on TV. She is playing her famous part of “Tulsi” again in a new season of the hit show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. This show made her famous at the turn of the millennium and helped her get into politics.
During the interview, Irani emphatically denied having any ambitions to retire from politics, despite her return to acting. She also addressed her noticeably blunted attacks on Rahul Gandhi, whom she famously defeated in Amethi in 2019. Irani said, “That’s not my job,” which suggests that her function or focus in the party’s communication strategy has changed.