While making clear that she has no political ambition of becoming the ‘pradhan sevak’, Union Minister Smriti Irani said that she would leave politics the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to hang his boots, though she asserted that he would be around for “long years”.
She was speaking at the Words Count festival 2019, Pune, in a discussion titled ‘Scripting Her Story, From Star to Star Campaigner’.
When someone from the audience asked her ‘when will one see her as “Pradhan Sevak”, she said “never”.
“I entered politics to work under charismatic leaders I was very lucky to work under the leadership of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee and I’m currently serving under Narendra Modi,” she said, adding that “The day ‘pradhan sevak’ Narendra Modi decides to hang his boots, I will also leave Indian politics.”
The BJP leader was also asked whether she would contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Amethi against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. She said the decision would be taken by her party and its chief Amit Shah. Irani had lost to Gandhi in the 2014 general elections from Amethi.
A prolific actress and a model, Irani rose to national fame with her hit TV series ‘Kyun Ki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ in the early 2000s. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2004.
Under PM Narendra Modi, she has been at the helm of Human Resource Development, Information & Broadcasting and Textile ministries, in that order.
