Sunday Secularist

TILL Sunday, December 11, Smriti 8216;Tulsi8217; Irani was the BJP8217;s trophy bahu, a reel McCoy who added that touch of glamour to the...

TILL Sunday, December 11, Smriti 8216;Tulsi8217; Irani was the BJP8217;s trophy bahu, a reel McCoy who added that touch of glamour to the party8217;s pantheon of Bharatiya naris taking on the videshi usurper. When she signed up in late 2003, the BJP was in a beatific mood. India was shining, everyone was feeling good, and the party was the national destination for time-servers.

Irani was a particularly good catch. As the immensely popular Tulsi Virani in the long-running television soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, she personifed 8216;8216;family values8217;8217;. That the serial had appeal among the north Indian middle class 8212; L.K. Advani himself is said to be an avid fan 8212; that formed the BJP8217;s 8216;8216;core constituency8217;8217; was not lost on party leaders.

But Smriti Irani, born to a Bengali mother and Punjabi father and married to a Bombay Parsi, was more than just a glamour doll. The buzz in party circles right through the 2003 assembly and 2004 Lok Sabha campaigns was that, of all the new entrants into the BJP, she and Varun Gandhi had 8216;8216;great potential8217;8217;. Party leaders would often tell sceptical journalists that Irani was no bimbo, she 8216;8216;understood politics8217;8217;.

She wanted to contest too, and was ready to take on organisational responsibilities. Within months, she was made vice-president of the Maharashtra unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. In an interview at the time, she8217;d said, 8216;8216;Being a female, they expected me to go to the female wing but I said 8216;No, I8217;d like to go into the youth wing8217;.8217;8217;

She didn8217;t get a Lok Sabha seat of her choice in Gujarat 8212; probably one reason for her ire against Narendra Modi 8212; but was given Chandni Chowk in Delhi. She lost badly, but then so did BJP stalwarts across metropolitan India.

For the party, Irani was still important. She was made a member of the BJP National Executive, even as old loyalists such as Jagdish Shettigar and Seshadri Chari were shown the door.

HER outburst against Narendra Modi and the half-hearted withdrawal a few hours later has changed all that. Suddenly, a whole new bunch of adjectives 8216;8216;ambitious8217;8217;, 8216;8216;impatient8217;8217;, 8216;8216;overbearing8217;8217; has replaced the old ones 8216;8216;articulate8217;8217;, 8216;8216;dynamic8217;8217;, 8216;8216;promising8217;8217;.

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A Maharashtra leader, anxious to dispel the notion that she was a protege of Pramod Mahajan-Gopinath Munde, insists Irani was never ideologically committed. She was toying with joining the Congress when a saffron activist friend persuaded her towards the BJP instead.

And before the Maharashtra unit could quite announce it, the Delhi leaders 8212; more glamour struck than those in Mumbai 8212; 8216;8216;hijacked8217;8217; her and made her a national leader.

And yes, she understands politics alright, a BJP leader says sarcastically. Understands it so well that she knows abandoning a sinking ship makes sense. That is why the sudden awakening of her 8216;8216;secular conscience8217;8217;, the attack on Modi after happily campaigning in Gujarat during the Lok Sabha polls.

Looked at any which way, Irani stands to win. She8217;s re-entered the limelight. She8217;s also laid the ground for a possible defection to the Congress. And if she decides to 8216;8216;behave8217;8217;, she could get rewarded with better posts in the BJP.

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On December 23, as she assumes the avatar of Mother India and shoots her evil son on television, there will be some real life drama at hand. The Maharashtra state executive and state council are meeting at Yavatmal on December 23-24. L.K. Advani will be there. So will Smriti Irani. Conciliation or confrontation? From Advani to Irani, the BJP has certainly come a long way.