The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday announced its most-awaited full national team under party president Nitin Nabin. The most interesting appointment is that of Smriti Irani, the former Union Minister and ‘Television’s favourite Bahu’.
Her comeback became one of the most talked development across the aisle in politics as well as among people. She has been appointed as the party’s national general secretary alongside leaders like Sunil Bansal and Vinod Tawade.
Irani was out of active politics and returned to television after her defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Amethi. Her return is far more than a routine organisational reshuffle and, in fact, is an apparent signal that the party has switched to election mode and she would play a crucial role in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls.
Why UP is crucial?
The BJP government at the Centre has faced the biggest public outburst recently over the paper leak issue. The effect could pass on to the UP elections. Besides, after a dominant performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the 2017 Assembly elections, the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2022 Assembly polls, the party suffered a serious setback in the 2024 general elections when the INDIA bloc, Congress+Samajwadi Party, outperformed the NDA, winning 43 out of 80 seats.
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The BJP would look to regain its dominance under the leadership of PM Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath, two of the most influential faces in the party. For that, the party needs a strong core team of national general secretaries.
Smriti Irani’s role
The core team of general secretaries gets involved in coordinating with the state units, selecting candidates, supervising party activities up to booth levels, and resolving factional disputes. The team has Vinod Bansal, who is credited with building a highly decentralised but disciplined booth-level leadership in the party in Uttar Pradesh, which has acted as a formidable electoral machine.
Similarly, Tawade, another general secretary, has a strong organisational acumen and has played a role as a strategist in Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir. In Bihar, he worked extensively on the ground and managed to prevent another Nitish Kumar-Lalu Yadav alliance ahead of the 2024 polls.
Inducting Irani in this role alongside Bansal, Tawade and Satish Poonia means the party would capitalise on her organisational skills, her strong woman leader and high-visibility political campaigning personality.
In 2014, under the Narendra Modi wave, she contested Amethi against Rahul Gandhi. Defeated, but Smriti defied popular perception of her as a scapegoat candidate. She garnered over 3 lakh votes, ending as runner-up.
She stood her ground and made grassroots penetration. She visited villages to villages, met people and with extensive efforts in five years, she bounced back against Gandhi, defeating him in the 2019 polls.
In 2024, Gandhi switched seats to contest Rae Bareilly. However, Irani was defeated by Congress candidate Kishori Lal by 1.67 lakh votes.
Her Amethi journey earned her the title of ‘giant killer’ and placed her as a leader with a knack for organisation. Besides, her dominance over Rahul Gandhi will be key for the party at a time when Congress is fighting under Gandhi’s leadership and is trying to revive itself in UP.
She has also been a prominent face of the BJP government’s women-oriented efforts. As a minister of women and child development and Mahila Morcha president, she had worked extensively in women-centric roles, giving her administrative experience and organisational skills.