BJP cautions Smriti Irani on drama

Union human resources development minister Smriti Irani’s chest-thumping, high-pitched histrionics, rolling of her eyes and pointing of fingers at members during her dramatic speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday did not go down well with the saffron high command. More trouble brewed for the HRD minister as a combined Opposition on Saturday decided to move a privilege notice against her on the issue of Rohith Vemula, the dalit scholar who committed suicide at Hyderabad Central University.

The HRD minister was not merely cautioned and asked to refrain from getting into “melodramatic mode” but suave and articulate finance minister Arun Jaitley was pressed to intervene the following day in the Rajya Sabha to bring a semblance of balance to the JNU debate, sources revealed. That she was cautioned became somewhat evident when during her comparatively controlled reply in the Rajya Sabha she said, “I have been cautioned, and rightly so...”

It was also learnt that BJP OBC ministers, legislators and functionaries “strongly disapproved” of her raising the “Mahishasura martyrdom” and “goddess Durga” issue. Some of the OBC leaders reportedly conveyed to the party high command that there were communities in which Mahishasura was “not considered evil”.

The HRD minister could be pushed further into a tight corner on the goddess Durga issue. On Friday the HRD minister contended in the Rajya Sabha that she had read out from a “verified” document that had been attested by the JNU registrar. The same day the student organiser of the 2014 event in JNU, Anil Kumar, told PTI that the controversial “pamphlet that Smriti Irani was reading in Parliament on Wednesday was not written by me or any of my mates”. He then went on to claim that “the pamphlet she is seen holding in the speech is a colourful one which is never used in any JNU protest due to high printing costs. It is a fake document and the minister is lying”. Anil Kumar was a Ph.D student at the varsity when the event took place in 2014.

Moreover, dalit scholar Rohith Vemula’s mother accusing the HRD minister of lying in Parliament and the duty doctor at Hyderabad Central University refuting her claims that “no doctor attended Rohith’s body for several hours” have also left the Modi government red-faced, a section of functionaries observed. The BJP felt that her rhetoric, particularly offering her head if the BSP supremo rejected her explanation on Rohith Vemula’s suicide, has put the party in an “embarrassing” position.

As the HRD minister moved from one controversy to the other, ranging from her degree to her alleged attempts to saffronise the education system, there had been tacit pressure on the government to drop her, or at least shift her, from the HRD ministry. No such steps were taken against her as she apparently enjoyed strong backing from the RSS, particularly from the outfit’s joint general secretary, Krishna Gopal, a party functionary claimed. It may be recalled that earlier Ms Irani has been accused of appointing RSS men in key posts at the National Institute of Technology, UGC, National Book Trust and ICHR. While some in the BJP were rooting for Yogi Adityanath to be the party’s face during the 2017 Assembly polls in UP, a section in the RSS were silently pushing for Ms Irani to lead the BJP.

Meanwhile, adopting an aggressive stance, the Opposition parties are all set to bring a privilege motion against the HRD minister over her remarks in Parliament on the suicide of dalit scholar Rohith Vemula at Hyderabad Central University.

The Congress, along with the CPI(M) and JD(U), accused Ms Irani of “wilfully misleading” Parliament. “The HRD minister has not only been economical with the truth but has also wilfully misled Parliament on the unfortunate suicide of a young dalit student, Rohith Vemula,” Congress general secretary Mukul Wasnik alleged. Mr Wasnik said the Congress planned to bring a privilege motion in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha soon, while CPI(M) leader Mohammed Saleem said he would be doing so on Monday. JD(U) leader and Rajya Sabha MP K.C. Tyagi said he and nominated member K.T.S. Tulsi will give a privilege notice against Ms Irani to Upper House Chairman Hamid Ansari on Monday. “There are contradictions in many statements of Irani regarding the Rohith Vemula case. This is a fit case of breach of privilege,” Mr Tyagi said. Mr Wasnik said it was believed that the HRD minister would try to “heal” Vemula’s family, but instead Ms Irani has rubbed salt in their wounds. Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said Ms Irani is “too clever by half and then you get caught in your own web, and that’s exactly what has happened to the HRD minister”.