'Don't Judge Me By Editorials': Smriti Irani Recalls PM Modi's Advise

New Delhi: Smriti Irani spent the second anniversary of her party coming to power in the constituency of Amethi, which she lost much more than just respectably in 2014 to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

Seated at a tea stall in what has long been a stronghold of the Gandhi family, Ms Irani, who, at 40, is the country's youngest Education Minister, shushed a crowd that raucously supported the suggestion that she could be the BJP's presumptive Chief Minister for Uttar Pradesh, which votes next year.

"Mine is a cadre-based party, ultimately it is my party president and leadership that take a decision," the minister said, repeating herself for emphasis. "Don't think there will be sycophants around who will start screaming my name..." she added, making it clear that her party will inform her of whether she will run again for parliament from Amethi in 2019.

As the government launches a nationwide program to highlight the policies and welfare schemes of its first two years, Ms Irani was asked to describe the style of leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have worked over the last two years on imaging him as a leader who is unwilling to delegate much control, resistant not just to dissent but suggestions. Ms Irani said none of that is correct. "He would not even take your agreement with a pinch of salt," she said. "He would ask you why would you agree with him. And you have to explain your stand," she said.
 Referring to the Congress, whose newly-elected legislators in Bengal signed a loyalty affidavit to the Gandhis, Ms Irani said, when asked about the PM's style of leadership and the dynamic at cabinet meetings, "At least in the BJP, nobody's cooking up bonds of servitude."

Ms Irani said that her own example proves how open to the Prime Minister is to feedback and his willingness to forgive mistakes. After communal riots in 2002 in Gujarat, she publicly attacked him and sought his resignation as Chief Ministser. "At that time, I was just a young kid," she said, while Mr Modi was "a star of the BJP".

"He could very well have told the organization that this upstart of a girl has said something, kindly have her sacked, or kindly put her in a place from where she never politically rises," she said.

Instead, Ms Irani recalled, "He sat down with me, he said, 'Tell me how you reached this conclusion.'" When she replied that she had been influenced by what was reported in the media, she says Mr Modi replied, "Don't judge me by editorials" and then advised her, "You ensure you see me by the programs that I roll out, see my by the effectiveness, or if there is a gap, tell me what the gap in that program is, help me work so that I can deliver on the promise of development."

Ms Irani said that the PM advised her, "I am not looking for apologies, explanations. If you can apply yourself to any one program and help me make it a success, that is something you should do for the party."

"For me, respect for that gentleman overnight grew," Ms Irani told NDTV. Watch her interview on NDTV's The Buck Stops Here tonight at 8 pm (Live stream on the NDTV site and apps).