New Delhi, Jul 6: In a major overhaul of his Cabinet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday not just inducted 19 new faces into his ministry, but also changed the portfolios of some his top ministers.
One of the most prominent changes involved Smriti Irani, who was shifted from the key Human Resources Development Ministry to the relatively lower profile Textiles Ministry.
Smriti Irani's two-year tenure as the Union HRD Minister has been marked by several controversies.
Here's is an overview of some the controversies that Irani has had to grapple with:
JNU row
Irani also faced flak over the controversy over alleged seditious activities on the campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. She also was singled out for attack by the Congress after she read out a JNU pamphlet word-by-word. Congress members trooped into the well of the House over some of the pamphlet's content, which they claimed contained derogatory references to Goddess Durga. Opposition parties later demanded an apology for her 'blasphemous' comments, which she rejected, saying she is a worshipper of Durga and read aloud offensive things about the deity in Parliament on Thursday merely to prove a point.
The degree dilemma
Irani's educational qualifications came under the scanner immediately after she took charge of the HRD Ministry. A case was filed against her alleging that she had made contradictory declarations when she contested Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2014. As a candidate in 2004 elections from Chandni Chowk in Delhi, Irani had declared that she had a Bachelor of Arts degree. "B.A. 1996 Delhi University (School of Correspondence)", she had written in the column which seeks details of University education and the year in which the course was completed. In the same column of the affidavit filed in the 2014 elections from Amethi, Irani has said,"Bachelor of Commerce Part-1, School of Open Learning (Correspondence), University of Delhi-1994". Irani's claim to have a degree from Yale University was also highly criticised. The university later clarified that she had only attended a week-long programme, India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program, in 2013.
German-Sanskrit row
The HRD ministry had asked all Kendriya Vidyalayas to put an end to German as the third language option. The Ministry wanted it to be replaced by the Sanskrit language. However, she said German would continue to be taught as an "additional subject of hobby class". This, again, created a furore and even German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the matter with Prime Minister Modi.
Rohith Vemula suicide case
Smriti Irani was subject to a lot of public outrage and opposition attack over the suicide of Rohit Vemula, a Hyderabad University scholar. Rohith had hung himself on campus on January 17, days after he was banned from the hostel and other common areas on the campus for allegedly attacking an activist of the BJP-linked ABVP. The opposition alleged that the HRD Ministry had sent five reminders to university's Vice Chancellor on a complaint against Rohith from parliamentarian Bandaru Dattatreya. She was also accused of distorting facts while making a speech in Parliament over the issue.
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