The Union minister for textiles also talked about her victory in Amethi, her parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh, in the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
Union minister Smriti Irani said on Saturday she has been stopped at airports abroad over her last name and has an answer ready when asked about her last name.
“There is an Irani suffix to my name. I have also been stopped at foreign airports and asked which ‘Irani’ is it? I have told them that I am ‘India wali Irani’,” she said while speaking at the inaugural session of Hindustan Shikhar Samagam in Lucknow.
The Union minister for textiles also talked about her victory in Amethi, her parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh, in the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
Smriti Irani had defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from his family stronghold of Amethi in the last parliamentary. Before that Rahul Gandhi had won against Irani in the Amethi seat by a margin of more than one lakh votes in the 2014 polls.
“The victory in 2019 was not mine but the people’s. I was just a symbol. 2019 is proof of people’s victory for me. In this way I became the sister of Amethi,” Smriti Irani said.
Smriti Irani, who also is in charge of the Union ministry of women and child development, defended the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as she is proud of the fact it provides refuge to non-Muslims persecuted in a country such as Pakistan.
“There have been cases where Sikh or Hindu girls have been raped and forced to marry her rapists. They are the kind of people who would want refuge in India. I am proud that this law that gives them the refuge they need,” Irani said.
In the fifth conference of Samagam, discussions on power, politics, sports, entertainment and development of the country will be held over several sessions.
On Saturday, eminent personalities of the country will talk about a new perspective to the new era. Current challenges and solutions in the path of building a new India will also be discussed.
Prasanta Patnaik