Smriti Irani has undoubtedly been the favourite of Internet trolls. Her erstwhile bahu character has been mocked incessantly, and her exaggerated theatrics of thumping her own chest, and crying in Parliament were a recipe for disaster.
When Irani was transferred from the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the Ministry of Textiles, many celebrated this as a demotion. The BJP government was said to be trying to keep her out of the public gaze in the relatively low profile textile industry.
However, when one gets used to the spotlight, there is no going back. Being a creative and adept user of social media and completely sympathising with Modi’s digital campaign, Irani has pulled the Textile Industry into the Twitter limelight – and the responses to her new campaign have been phenomenal.
Smriti Irani has launched the new #IWearHandloom campaign, which is to culminate on 7 August, National Handloom Day. She posted about how handlooms constitute a large portion of India’s rich heritage and tradition. She also said that wearing handlooms supports the families of 43 lakh weavers in the country.
She posted a photograph in a handwoven silk sari from Bihar and urged others to share photographs of themselves wearing handlooms. This campaign received responses from across the board.
And the cake goes to...
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)