File photo of Smriti Irani
It was not the content of what Smiriti Irani said at the "intellectuals' meeting on Monday evening at a conclave in Agra, but the poor attendance, that is the talk of the town.
"May be Agra doesn't have too many intellectuals," said insurance agent Sudheir Gupta.
Home-maker Padmini reacted saying "the lack of interest in her meeting clearly is a pointer towards the gender bias of the male dominated BJP."
District BJP leaders however explained that since there was an important meeting at Hathras, most leaders were away and could not join the session addressed by Rajya Sabha member and party vice president Ms Irani.
Ms Irani lauded Narendra Modi's development model and lashed out at UPA's performance. She said votes for either BSP or SP would mean supporting the Congress which is neck deep in corruption.
She called Aam Admi Party the "B team of the Congress" while interacting with media persons.