The bad news never stops for Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani.
If recent disasters have not been enough, an old video from a TV show has surfaced on social media, and frankly, it doesn't show the person with the education portfolio in a very knowledgeable light.
Soon after joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2003, Irani appeared on a Shekhar Suman hosted chat show titled Carry On Shekhar. Suman quizzed her on her knowledge of India and her party.
First question: how many states are there in India?
"I wouldn't know," Irani replied straight up, adding "28?" as an afterthought.
Second question: in how many states is the BJP government in power?
"Filhaal? (Currently?) I have seen it in three states, I don't know about the rest," Irani replies candidly. Seven, Suman informed her.
But Irani improved her performance in the later half of the quiz, which was on the who's who of the BJP. She knew the party leaders well. So while the clip above shows her in a particular light, the full show (below) changes that impression.
[This article has been edited to correct the year in which the interview was recorded, which is 2003 and not 2011, as was wrongly stated originally.]
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