Smriti Zubin Irani (née Malhotra; born 23 March 1976) is an Indian politician, former model, television actress, and producer. Irani is a Minister in the Union Cabinet of India. She is serving in the cabinet of Narendra Modi as Minister of Textiles and was given additional charge as Minister of Women and Child Development in the 2nd cabinet of Modi since May 2019. A prominent leader within the Bharatiya Janata Party, she is a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, representing Amethi.
In the 2019 Indian general election, she defeated Rahul Gandhi – the country’s principal opposition leader and president of Indian National Congress – to win the seat. Gandhi’s family had previously represented the constituency for four decades. Prior to this, she was a member of the Rajya Sabha for Gujarat and held multiple portfolios as a Minister in the Government of India.
In the 2nd Modi Ministry she was again sworn in as a Cabinet Minister on 30 May 2019. She is currently the youngest Minister in the Council of Ministers at the age of 43. On 31 May 2019, the government released the portfolio allocations for the ministers. She retained her post as the Minister of Textiles and also got responsibility of Women and Child Development succeeding Maneka Gandhi.
