Former Union Minister Smriti Irani has set the record straight on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal life. The veteran actress dispelled the myth regarding his close relationships, claiming that he is close to nobody in his alleged inner circle. She noted that the people who actually do know him well are rarely in the limelight or featured by the media.
During her appearance on Soha Ali Khan's YouTube podcast, Smriti said, "Let me break the biggest myth. There is nobody close to the Prime Minister. Anybody that you ever meet who says how great a close relationship they share with the Prime Minister either doesn't know the Prime Minister or they are outright lying."
She added, "He's somebody who left his home for a larger purpose. He has never picked up people who then don't become effective enough to serve that larger cause. For him, it's very clear that I have one life, and I want to give back to my country. That's it. He teaches you how to work on the details. You'd better know your job. He will remember what you said on that topic in 2007, and he would just look at you 'Oh, I don't think so.' You don't want to be in that space ever."
Smriti Irani further credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for nominating her to the Rajya Sabha, and acknowledged his role in providing her with the opportunity to serve in the upper house of Parliament. She said, "In my ten years of working with him as minister, if you look back at my two opportunities of serving in the Rajya Sabha, they were courtesy of him."
On the work front, actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani recently reprised her role as Tulsi in the reboot series Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Season 2 reunited much of the original cast, including Amar Upadhyay, Hiten Tejwani, Gauri Pradhan, Shakti Anand, Ritu Seth, Ketaki Dave and Komolika Guhathakurta.
The show also introduced a new generation of actors, featuring Rohit Suchanti, Shagun Sharma, Aman Gandhi, Tanisha Mehta, Prachi Singh and Ankit Bhatia. The new episodes air on Star Plus and JioHotstar.