Sunday, March 22, 2015

Smt. Smriti Irani - Biography






The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Smt. Smriti Irani launching the Grievance Portal of UGC, in New Delhi on March 23, 2015.

Picture Source: http://pib.nic.in/photo//2015/Mar/l2015032363386.jpg



Smriti Irani (originally Smriti Malhotra) was born in Delhi on 23 March 1976. She has  Maharastrian, Bengali and Assamese connections through her parents and grand parents. Her father's name is Ajay Kumar Malhotra and her mother's name is Shibani Bagchi. She has been a "part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from childhood." Her grandfather was an RSS swayamsevak and her mother was a member of Jana Sangh.

She studied up to class 12 at Holy Child Auxilium School and for further studies enrolled with university as well as correspondence courses. But other career has taken her away and gave her a great opportunities to prove her talent and hard work.


Smriti was one of the finalists of the beauty pageant Miss India Femina in 1998. In 1998, she appeared in a song "Boliyan" of the album "Saawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag" with Mika Singh. In 2000, she started her TV series acting with Aatish and Hum Hain Kal Aaj Aur Kal, both aired on Star Plus. In mid-2000, she got the lead role of Tulsi Virani in Ekta Kapoor's production Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi on Star Plus. Smriti became a famous name with the character of Tulsi. She holds the record of winning five consecutive Indian Television Academy Awards for Best Actress (Popular), four Indian Telly Awards, eight Star Parivaar Awards.  In 2001, Smriti married Zubin Irani, a Parsi businessman. She bacme Smriti Irani. Smriti Irani had differences of opinion with the producer Ekta Kapoor and she left the show in June 2007. She reappeared in May 2008 in a special episode. 

In 2001, she played the character of Sita in Zee TV's Ramayan. In 2006, Irani co-produced the show Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan under her banner Ugraya Entertainment and Balaji Telefilms. and played the lead role of Uma in it. She produced some more shows for various channels.  In 2007, she produced the TV serial Virrudh for Sony TV and also portrayed the lead character of Vasudha in it. She also produced Mere Apne for 9X and portrayed the protagonist alongside Vinod Khanna. She also acted in a supporting role in Zee TV's Teen Bahuraaniyaan. In 2008, Irani along with Sakshi Tanwar hosted the show Yeh Hai Jalwa, a dance based reality show featuring celebrities  on 9X. In the same year she also produced another show on Zee TV, Waaris which ended in 2009. In 2009, she came in a comedy show Maniben.com, aired on SAB TV. She also co-produced the show in collaboration with Contiloe Entertainment. In her acting career she also appeared in some movies.


Smriti Irani joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2003. She was appointed as the vice-president of the Maharashtra Youth Wing in 2004. In the 2004 general elections for the 14th Lok Sabha, she contested  against Kapil Sibal from the Chandni Chowk constituency in Delhi but was not elected. She was nominated as executive member of the central committee of the BJP. In December 2004, Irani threatened to "fast unto death" until then Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi resigned, as she felt his handling of Gujarat riots was responsible for BJP's electoral losses. But, she quickly made peace with the party high command as the BJP's central leadership persuaded her to see the situation more in more realistic way. 

In early 2010, Irani was appointed as the National Secretary of BJP and on 24 June, she was appointed as All India President of the BJP's women's wing, BJP Mahila Morcha. In August 2011, she became a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat. 

Irani was a star campaigner in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. She was a spokersperson for the party and came on TV channels every day and presented the party in an articulate manner and supported Narendra Modi and his policies to the hilt. In a surprise move, she was asked to contenst against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi constituency of Uttar Pradesh. She made a spiritied campaign. Smt. Priyanka Gandhi refused to recongnize her by saying Irani, who?  But Narendra Modi addressed a rally at Amethi and said, Smriti Irani is my sister.  The Gandhi camp had a scare on counting day, as at some point in time, Irani was even leading. But, in the end, she lost to Gandhi by 107,923 votes, a small margin, as Rahul Gandhi is the prime ministerial candidates of Congress.  On 26 May 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed her as the Minister of Human Resource Development in his cabinet. At 38, she was the youngest member of the cabinet. Her appointment was a surprise for many, but she is handling the ministry and successfully overcoming the controversies that are coming up.

Controversy about Teachers' Day - September 2014
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In 2001, Smriti married Zubin Irani, a Parsi businessman.The have a son named Zohr and a  daughter named Zoish. Shanelle is Zubin Irani's daughter from his previous marriage and she is also part of her family. 




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