News Analysis India

Tag: Smriti Irani

  • ‘Apologise’: Union Minister Smriti Irani sends legal notice to Congress leaders for allegations against

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union Minister Smriti Irani on Sunday sent a legal notice to Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera, asking them to apologise for their “baseless and false” allegations against the BJP leader and her daughter.

    Irani’s action came a day after the Congress leaders alleged that her 18-year-old daughter Zoish Irani ran a bar illegally in Goa and also targeted the minister over this, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sack her from his Cabinet.

    If they do not tender an unconditional and unequivocal apology and withdraw their allegations, Irani will initiate civil and criminal proceedings against them, the legal notice said. The notice has also been sent to ‘Mahila’ Congress leader Netta D’Souza and the Congress party.

    “The false allegations were intended to hurt the reputation of our client as a minister and a person in public life, and also to outrage her modesty and that of her daughter,” the notice said.

    The Congress leaders stooped to a new low, morally and ethically, by attacking Irani’s young daughter who is in her first year at university and at the threshold of a new chapter of her life pursuing her professional aspirations, the notice sent by Irani said.

    “These aspirations of our client’s (Irani) daughter are sought to be cruelly marred, jeopardised and prejudiced by the addressees (Congress leaders) through their inhumane, insensitive and false narratives as collateral damage,” it said.

    ALSO READ: Youth Congress workers protest outside Goa restaurant allegedly owned by Smriti Irani’s daughter

    “The insistence of addressees to invoke value systems of our client with a reference to her ‘sanskar’ is an effort to make our client and her young daughter social outcasts by proclaiming that by the act of ‘running’ a bar our client and her young daughter are women of disrepute,” it said.

    Zoish Irani has never applied for any licence for “running” any bar or for any business enterprise, it said, asserting that she has not been served with any show cause notice from the excise department in Goa as alleged by the Congress leaders.

    “These allegations are sought to be sensationalised and magnified by a series of innuendos and suggestive statements which not only hurt our client and her daughter’s reputation but are equally an attempt at outraging their modesty,” it claimed.

    These allegations have been made with the knowledge of their falsity or at least in careless disregard of the truth, it said.

    The Congress on Saturday demanded Irani’s sacking, alleging her daughter was running an illegal bar in Goa, but the minister had claimed the “malicious” charge was made at the Gandhi family’s behest due to her vocal stand in the National Herald case and vowed to fight back.

    Youth Congress workers on Sunday protested outside the Goa restaurant which the Congress claims is owned by her daughter.

    NEW DELHI: Union Minister Smriti Irani on Sunday sent a legal notice to Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera, asking them to apologise for their “baseless and false” allegations against the BJP leader and her daughter.

    Irani’s action came a day after the Congress leaders alleged that her 18-year-old daughter Zoish Irani ran a bar illegally in Goa and also targeted the minister over this, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sack her from his Cabinet.

    If they do not tender an unconditional and unequivocal apology and withdraw their allegations, Irani will initiate civil and criminal proceedings against them, the legal notice said. The notice has also been sent to ‘Mahila’ Congress leader Netta D’Souza and the Congress party.

    “The false allegations were intended to hurt the reputation of our client as a minister and a person in public life, and also to outrage her modesty and that of her daughter,” the notice said.

    The Congress leaders stooped to a new low, morally and ethically, by attacking Irani’s young daughter who is in her first year at university and at the threshold of a new chapter of her life pursuing her professional aspirations, the notice sent by Irani said.

    “These aspirations of our client’s (Irani) daughter are sought to be cruelly marred, jeopardised and prejudiced by the addressees (Congress leaders) through their inhumane, insensitive and false narratives as collateral damage,” it said.

    ALSO READ: Youth Congress workers protest outside Goa restaurant allegedly owned by Smriti Irani’s daughter

    “The insistence of addressees to invoke value systems of our client with a reference to her ‘sanskar’ is an effort to make our client and her young daughter social outcasts by proclaiming that by the act of ‘running’ a bar our client and her young daughter are women of disrepute,” it said.

    Zoish Irani has never applied for any licence for “running” any bar or for any business enterprise, it said, asserting that she has not been served with any show cause notice from the excise department in Goa as alleged by the Congress leaders.

    “These allegations are sought to be sensationalised and magnified by a series of innuendos and suggestive statements which not only hurt our client and her daughter’s reputation but are equally an attempt at outraging their modesty,” it claimed.

    These allegations have been made with the knowledge of their falsity or at least in careless disregard of the truth, it said.

    The Congress on Saturday demanded Irani’s sacking, alleging her daughter was running an illegal bar in Goa, but the minister had claimed the “malicious” charge was made at the Gandhi family’s behest due to her vocal stand in the National Herald case and vowed to fight back.

    Youth Congress workers on Sunday protested outside the Goa restaurant which the Congress claims is owned by her daughter.

  • Over 2,000 children died in specialised adoption agencies since 2014: Government

    88 Specialised Adoption Agencies have been inspected by the concerned state and district authorities, since the inception of the portal from January 21, 2021.

  • Prez accepts resignations of Naqvi, RCP Singh; Irani given charge of Minority Affairs Ministry

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the resignations of Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh with immediate effect, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement on Wednesday.

    Minority Affairs Minister Naqvi and Steel Minister Singh submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, a day before the completion of their Rajya Sabha term.

    ALSO READ | With Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s term ending, no Muslim among BJP MPs

    According to the Rashtrapati Bhavan statement, “As advised by the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Smriti Zubin Irani, Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, in addition to her existing portfolio.”

    Cabinet Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has been assigned the charge of the Ministry of Steel, in addition to his existing portfolio.

  • NCP claims woman member attacked by BJP workers at Irani’s event; Congress protests price rise

    By PTI

    PUNE: The NCP Pune city unit on Monday alleged an office-bearer of the party was assaulted by BJP workers inside an auditorium during a face-off between the two sides when Union Cabinet minister Smriti Irani was attending a book release event at the venue here on Monday evening.

    Police said a probe was on into the alleged incident.

    Congress and NCP workers staged protests against price rise outside a luxury hotel and the Bal Gandharva auditorium, where Irani attended events during her visit to the city.

    The two parties are constituents of the Shiv Sena-led MVA government in Maharashtra.

    “One of our party functionaries, Vaishali Nagawade, was assaulted by BJP workers inside the auditorium when she and others went to give a memorandum (to the minister),” claimed Prashant Jagtap, Pune city NCP president.

    Some NCP members workers went to the Deccan Gymkhana police station to register an offence against BJP activists, he said.

    Speaking to reporters, Nagawade said the incident took place when she along with other NCP workers went to submit a memorandum to Irani over the LPG price hike.

    Senior NCP leader Ankush Kakade said when the BJP was in opposition at the Centre before 2014, Irani used to aggressively raise the price rise issue and his party was doing the same now.

    “When Irani was in a hotel for some event, our women party workers requested her to accept a memorandum but she refused. As a result, our women workers staged an intense agitation outside the hotel,” he said.

    Kakade said the book launch event at the auditorium, organised by the BJP, was open to all.

    “Our four party functionaries, including Vaishali Nagawade, had gone inside the auditorium. Some BJP workers said they are from NCP and started heckling them, and assaulted Nagawade. Had the police not intervened in time, things would have turned really ugly,” he said.

    Kakade said the police should investigate the incident thoroughly and take stringent action against the culprits.

    Murlidhar Karpe, senior inspector, Deccan police station, said four women workers of the NCP had come to attend the programme and they were identified by BJP workers which led to some tension.

    He said these women were escorted out by police after commotion inside the auditorium.

    Asked about allegations of heckling and assault, Karpe said a probe was on.

    Congress workers staged protests and shouted slogans against the Centre over the price rise issue during the visit of Irani.

    “Around 12 noon, Pune city women Congress committee members staged a protest (outside the hotel) over inflation and rising prices of LPG. Since the central government has failed to check inflation in the country, the women members had gone to present bangles to Union minister Smriti Irani,” said a party functionary.

    The protesting Congress members were detained by police and later released, he said.

    Later in the evening, Congress activists held a demonstration over soaring prices of essential goods outside the Bal Gandharva auditorium.

    Pune city Congress president Ramesh Bagwe said, “We shouted slogans against the rising prices and showed placards standing outside the auditorium.”

    Irani attended the release of Marathi version of a book on the political journey of Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah.

    The English version of the book is titled ‘Amit Shah and the March of BJP’.

  • UP polls: Smriti Irani rakes up Sidhu’s ‘Pakistan Link’, lashes out at Congress

    By PTI

    KUSHINAGAR: Union minister Smriti Irani accused the Congress on Sunday of colluding with those who had killed innocent people.

    Addressing an election meeting in Kushinagar, Irani hit out at Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, saying she made Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had embraced Pakistan’s army chief and said Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is his brother, the president of the Punjab Congress.

    “If the Gandhi family has the courage, it should refute my allegations,” she added.

    In an apparent reference to Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering case, Irani alleged that the Congress is shielding a person who has links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who was involved in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

    Taking a jibe at the “ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon” (I am a girl and I can fight) slogan of the Congress for the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the Union minister for women and child development said the boat of the grand old party is sinking and it has handed over the charge of the sinking boat to women.

    “They emerge as chunavjeevi at the time of elections and come up with a new formula, some times in the name of caste, some times in the name of religion,” she said.

    Irani alleged that during the COVID-19 crisis, the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were nowhere to be seen.

    “It was the BJP that went from house to house distributing masks and ration. Priyanka is sad over the fact that ration was distributed among poor people. Had there been an SP-BSP government, would the poor have got the ration?” she asked the gathering.

    Taking a jibe at the SP, the Union minister said, “Those who had once fired bullets on the devotees of Lord Ram are telling people that Lord Krishna comes in their dreams. I would like to tell them that in kalyug, Lord Krishna will never come to save criminals. God never sides with those who give shelter to people insulting women.”

    Referring to the Gandhis, she said a member of a family that had once said there was no Ram is moving from one temple to another wearing the sacred thread.

    Kushinagar is scheduled to go to polls in the sixth round of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh election on March 3.

  • ‘What compulsion do you have?’: Smriti slams Akhilesh for seeking Mamata’s support

    By PTI

    NOIDA: BJP leader Smriti Irani on Monday hit out at Akhilesh Yadav, wondering why the Samajwadi Party president was seeking support of Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had “insulted” the people of Uttar Pradesh.

    While addressing a poll programme in Gautam Buddh Nagar’s Jewar, the Union Minister claimed Yadav’s reach out to Banerjee was an indication that he is “not getting people’s support on his own strength”.

    Irani claimed Yadav was seeking support from Banerjee despite her insulting the traditions, culture and food habits of the people of Uttar Pradesh.

    “I want to ask Akhilesh ji, what has happened now that you want support of those who had forgotten the glorious past of this state and openly insult the residents of the state. What compulsion do you have?” she said.

    “But Akhilesh ji is definitely giving indications that he is not getting public support on his own strength,” she added.

    Irani was addressing a gathering in support of BJP’s Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh, who is once again in the fray from the seat for assembly polls.

    The Lok Sabha MP from Amethi said it was her good luck that she has been elected to parliament from Uttar Pradesh, which has been not only known as the land that has defined ‘sanskar, sanskriti’ but is also the land which is redefining development in India’s politics.

    Quoting the remarks of MLA Singh, she said the BJP has accomplished in five years in Jewar what could not be done even in 70 years.

    “It’s not easy that an international-level airport gets built in an assembly area or a medical device park for manufacturing modern equipment,” she said, talking of the big ticket projects Jewar has got since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.

    Polls in Gautam Buddh Nagar in western Uttar Pradesh are scheduled for February 10 during the first phase of elections in the state.

    Results will be declared on March 10.

  • Crowd for Congress’ Amethi event called from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh: Irani

    Irani is the current Amethi MP and had defeated Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, wresting a seat which was considered a stronghold of the Gandhi family.

  • Child abuse evident in prosperous families too: Union Minister Smriti Irani

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: There is a presumption amongst many that child abuse is limited to families that are poor, but in reality it is as much evident in prosperous families too, Union minister Smriti Irani said on Sunday.

    Addressing the National Workshop on Child Rights with Emphasis on Preventive Aspects of Child Protection Issues, Irani urged the participants to look into abuse that happens in prosperous families, that happens in powerful organizations and that happens in childcare institutions.

    There is a presumption amongst many that abuse is limited to families that are poor and that the abused child is restricted to poverty, but in reality such abuse is as much evident in prosperous families, she said.

    “And how can we not as administrators, but as citizens find solutions,” the Union Women and Child Development minister told the participants that consisted of NGOs, government officials among others.

    She said the best test of a democracy is if, “we as citizens, we as a nation can deliver justice to all children”.

    “This is a workshop conducted under the aegis of 75 years of Independence and until such time that every child is afforded protection can we truly be free.

    “So on your shoulders rests the freedom of a future generation so that may they grow without fear so that they may grow with confidence that if they seek justice that justice will be delivered, so that they grow with the belief that what you do today in protection of children is the flag that they will bear for their future generation,” she said.

  • Next 75 years should strike balance between rights and responsibilities of citizens: Union Minister Smriti Irani

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The next 75 years of independent India need to be equally about the responsibility of citizens towards the community and the nation, and not just about rights, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said on Sunday.

    She was speaking as a guest of honour at the valedictory ceremony of the six-week-long ‘Pan India Legal Awareness and Outreach Campaign’ by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA).

    The minister said that while the focus since independence was on rights, she was hopeful that the forthcoming years would strike a balance between rights and responsibilities.

    Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, judges of the Supreme Court Justice UU Lalit and Justice AM Khanwilkar along with Attorney General KK Venugopal were present at the event.

    Irani lauded NALSA for the campaign, which started on October 2 as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of India’s independence, and emphasised that free legal aid in the country is not charity but a right.

    The true test of a democracy is ensuring that justice reaches all its children, the Union minister said as she shared her desire for a just future for women and children.

    “That in the three phases from October 2 to the 14th (of November), 70 crore Indians and their lives could be touched upon, (the campaign) gives a message to our nation that free legal aid ‘ehsan nahi adhikar hai’ (free legal aid is not charity but a right). For that NALSA and the Hon’ble Chief Justice and judges of the Supreme Court have our gratitude,” she said.

    Irani noted that the country will celebrate Constitution Day on November 26.

    “We must ponder for a while and recognise that these 75 years have been about the exploration of our rights, the next 75 years need to be equally about responsibility towards our communities, towards self and towards our nation.

    “‘I’m hopeful that the forthcoming 75 years strike that balance between rights and responsibilities,” the Union minister stated.

    Speaking about the campaign, she shared that merely between October 30 and November 7, the outreach was extended to over five lakh villages, two lakh outreach teams were constituted and over 1.2 lakh programmes saw the attendance of 6.5 crore Indians.

    “The culmination of your efforts of awareness and outreach campaign is just a manifestation sir of your promise that justice would be denied to none and will be made available to all,” she said.

    The Union minister also announced a new ‘workshop and working engagement’ in collaboration with NIMHANS—National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences– for ‘those who want to enhance the quality of justice which is to be delivered to our children’.

    Irani said she “reflected on the appeal by Justice Uday Umesh Lalit to have a court that recognise how difficult it is for a child who undergoes trauma to engage and receive justice.”

    “From January 8 till February, we invite the participation of everybody who seeks to legally protect our children. For that, they are introduced to the mental health and legal dimensions of forensics.

    “We have endeavoured to ensure that our duty holders understand what affects a child’s decision on abuse disclosure and reporting,” she said.

    The programme, she shared, would make an endeavour to develop a methodology and skillset to “elicit abuse narrative from a child without further traumatising the child.”

    It was also shared that over one lakh duty holders in child care institutions accessed counselling under a programme called ‘Samvaad’ that began a year and a half ago under the aegis of NIMHANS.

    “While much has been spoken about the 800 million Indians who have received free ration, much is being celebrated about the one billion plus (COVID-19) vaccine doses. There have been stories that have been left unsaid,” she said speaking of the project launched in collaboration with her ministry.

    “Not only children who are in need of counsel in our child care institutions but also duty holders who were under immense stress were reached out to. Our endeavour was to ensure that those in need of counselling know that there is someone a phone call away,” the minister said.

  • Union Minister Smriti Irani takes a dig at Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli village

    By PTI

    RAE BARELI: Union Minister and Amethi MP Smriti Irani on Wednesday took a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying unlike the Rae Bareli MP, she knows what work she has done in her constituency.

    The Amethi MP had the dig while addressing people of Rae Bareli district’s Mamuli village, which, however, falls under the Salon assembly segment of the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency represented by Irani.

    “There are two MPs in this (Rae (Bareli) district. You can say with pride that our BJP MP, our didi, can give an account of all work done by her after visiting us,” she said.

    “Ask others if their MP was seen, has their MP an account of which drains were cleared and where were the ‘khadanja’ (a semi-pucca road) made,” said Irani without naming anyone.

    Congress’ Sonia Gandhi represents the Rae Bareli seat in the Lok Sabha.

    Irani had won the Amethi seat in the last Lok Sabha election defeating sitting Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

    The BJP leader said this has happened only because “you have chosen a representative who can come to you and give details of her work, who has not only been recognised as an MP but has been given the status of a sister and so she has come to her family and is telling what all she has done in two years”.

    Irani who also inaugurated Panchayat Bhawan in the village said in the past two years, in Mamuli village alone, works worth Rs 90 lakhs have been done.

    “This does not include the work done at the Vidhan Sabha or the panchayat level,” she said, adding she also has the videos and photos of the work as evidence and she does not go only by what the officers give her on papers.

    Earlier on her arrival, Irani visited a school in the village and interacted with the children there.