Smriti Irani's speech served its primary purpose ̶ it allowed Modi to duck out unscathed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has every reason to be pleased with Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani’s performance in Parliament.

With the Opposition infuriated with Irani for allegedly misleading them during the debate last week on the Jawaharlal Nehru University row and the suicide of Hyderabad University’s research scholar Rohith Vemula, it is the minister who has emerged as its chief target of attack. Modi, though, Modi has virtually escaped unscathed.

The rampaging Irani took on the Opposition singlehandedly, clearly providing a handy distraction for Modi whose own silence on key issues and his government’s deficiencies on the economic front have temporarily been brushed aside. No wonder then that Irani’s Lok Sabha speech was tweeted by Prime Minister with the message “Do hear this speech by Smriti Irani”. The tagline said “Satyamev Jayate”.

After her dramatic performance in the Lok Sabha on, Irani is currently embroiled in a prolonged war of words with the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha after she quoted from pamphlets containing derogatory references to Goddess Durga which, the minister said, were distributed by JNU students. This led to angry protests from Opposition members, as a result of which the debate ground to a halt.

Opposition gearing up

The controversy is expected to resurface when the debate resumes this week as major Opposition parties move a privilege motion against the minister for what they claim was her attempt to deliberately mislead Parliament on JNU and Rohith Vemula’s suicide. They have specifically referred to the statements of Vemula’s mother Radhika, accusing Irani of lying. Radhika Vemula has challenged the minister’s statement that doctors were not allowed to examine her son after he committed suicide to protest the manner in which he was treated by the university authorities.

She also hit out Irani for unfairly branding her son as “anti-national” and wanted to know on what basis she had made such a statement. “Your ministry had written that my son Rohith and other Dalit students were anti-national extremists,” Radhika Vemula said. “You said that he is not a Dalit. You accused him of getting a false statement.”

Radhika Vemula’s statement has come in handy for the Opposition as it attempts to retrieve lost ground and shift the debate from the JNU row to the mishandling of the Rohith Vemula case, which had pushed the Bharatiya Janata Party on the defensive after the Opposition branded it as anti-Dalit. The Congress, the Left parties and the Janata Dal (U) will be moving separate notices in both Houses of Parliament. “The HRD Minister has not only been economical with truth but has also wilfully misled Parliament on the unfortunate suicide of Rohith Vemula,” Congress leaders Mukul Wasnik and Selja told a press briefing last week.

On Saturday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi made a belated attempt to shift the focus back to Modi. Drawing the prime minister’s attention to Radhika Vemula’s mother’s statements, Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Modi over his Satyamev Jayate tweet about Irani’s Lok Sabha speech. “Satyameva Jayate!” the Congress vice-president tweeted. “Modiji do hear these words of Rohith Vemula’s mother.”

Too little, too late

If this was meant to turn the heat on Modi, it was a proverbial case of “too little, too late.” Gandhi could have pinned down Modi and Irani if he had chosen to participate in the debate on the JNU controversy and Rohith Vemula’s suicide. He lost a golden opportunity to face-off with his favourite political rivals. But to the contrary, Gandhi is being ridiculed for running away from the battle field.

Defensive Congress insiders now maintain that Gandhi will participate in the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, which will resume in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. They maintain that this debate is not confined to a specific issue but allows a speaker to question the government on a range of issues. Moreover, it also affords Gandhi the opportunity to take potshots at his bête noire, Modi. “Why should Rahul Gandhi bring himself down to Irani’s level?” remarked a Congress office bearer known to be close to the party vice-president. “He would rather pit himself against Modi.”

While doubts continue to persist about Rahul Gandhi’s capabilities, last week’s Lok Sabha debate has certainly elevated Smriti Irani in the political hierarchy as she finds herself in the same league as Mayawati and Sitaram Yechury. Once dismissed as a TV star and a novice, Irani has sealed her place in the BJP’s upper echelons. A host of possibilities have opened up for her, including her projection as the party’s chief ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh. “Irani has proved she has huge political potential,” remarked a senior BJP minister. “The sky is the limit for her.”