A year before her term as Rajya Sabha MP expires, Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday thanked the state of Gujarat for the ‘opportunity’ to be its representative in the Upper House of Parliament. In a series of tweets that left commentators confused, Irani expressed her “gratitude” to the people of the state” for the “privilege to have been able to reach out” to them and “resolve their problems in whatever capacity”. It is unclear why Irani chose to thank the electorate out of the blue.
Irani said she was “fortunate to have got immense support from @BJP4India [The Bharatiya Janata Party’s official Twitter handle] leaders & people across the country,” in her “five years as Rajya Sabha MP”. She also expressed her “gratitude” to the residents of Anand, the nodal district in her jurisdiction.
The former Human Resources Department minister was replaced by BJP leader Prakash Javadekar in the Cabinet reshuffle in July. While she was in charge of the country’s education policies, Irani faced scrutiny over her academic qualifications and was accused of having misrepresented scholarly work during debates in Parliament.
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