Nobody asks a working man who looks after his children; it's always the woman who is asked.
— Smriti Irani
I don't come from a unit family; I come from a Sang Parivar, Swayam Sevak family.
I am a living example of PM Modi's tolerance... he forgave me though I publicly attacked him.
I have a legacy which I carry from my media career. That is why you will find that everybody will have an opinion about me.
There are more than thousand mother tongues spoken in our country. This is not just a number but a reason to be proud of.
With ability to produce a diverse range of products, India has the potential to become the one-stop sourcing destination for brands and retailers of ASEAN nations.
I have no qualms about very emphatically declaring that I love my country. There is nothing regressive about it. There is nothing saffron about it.
Enhancing fabric production will also lead to strengthening the power loom sector.
I have lived life enough to know that I define myself.
I have never lived off my family name.
Change can't be a compulsion. It has to happen organically.
What type of politics is the Congress practising, wherein its leaders commit the sin of looting money meant for the welfare of pregnant women and poor children?
The country needs fiscal discipline to build a strong economy and for social justice.
I think too many obituaries have been written about me.
I know the pros and cons of being absolutely blunt.
My belief is that policy cannot be piecemeal.
Let me very proudly say that as a television actor, I never, ever saw any gender bias.
A degree which is just the paper and does not have the sanctity of law is not the one you want the students chasing for four years.
To say a democracy prospers only if one set of voices is heard would be untrue.
I feel very strongly about my country and stronger still about people who abuse my country.
Handloom is a legacy, a craft which involves close to four million weavers in the country. They have to decide how they would like to position their wares in the domestic and global markets. We in the government will support their vision to the best of our abilities.
Multilingualism in our nation extends back to several millennia. This multilingualism is an asset, a heritage we have inherited, and is, in fact, a resource we deeply cherish.
I think that Congress and its affiliates and journalists who support them have made trolling quite a sophisticated measure of intervention.
Fiscal prudence is very important.
Citizens know the legacy of misrule of the Congress - an economy in doldrums and an administration full of leakages.
I am not defined by somebody's comments or an article or somebody's angst about me or their anxiety about me or what is being said about me on social media.
I never used gender as my crutch. Many women don't use gender as a crutch.
Infrastructure development is a huge challenge for the people of Amethi.
Industry people do know when a PR movement plays out. The issue is that it is an insult to our intelligence when those who are doing the PR thing presume that we are not wiser.
Benefits of demonetisation need to percolate down to entrepreneurs and their enterprises, many of which are outside the ambit of formal economy.
I think when somebody wants to work diligently, when somebody wants to take away the cobwebs and see where attention is needed, to fix things, there is obviously going to be a backlash from those who have, for years, gained from status quo.
I do not want any policy to be formulated that impedes the spread of education in any fashion.
In politics, during my organisational roles, I have never seen gender bias within my organisation.
As I heard out people who had done others wrong, I'd often wonder how a human allows his or her better judgement to override their conscience. When I share these feelings with my friends, they say, 'Everyone isn't like you.' But I think it's easy to assert your better feelings and not allow the darker side to dominate your personality.
I think, as a working mother, what is more challenging for me is that I get to balance both work and home and prioritise my kid's life.
As a politician, I engage with all kinds of opinions irrespective of whether they are in the media or not.
Visva-Bharati has a glorious legacy.
Our country has a capacity to cater to huge demands, both domestic and overseas.
In a democratic country like India, eulogising Rahul Gandhi with the title of Yuvraj is an insult to democracy.
If you can't take the heat, don't be on that street... I get abused every day, and I don't cry on anybody's shoulder. I don't play the victim card. I get abused, threatened - not only on Twitter but off it, also.
It is a tragedy when you pay to make a public broadcaster survive.
I know the pros and cons of not being diplomatic.
I want to categorically say that whatever I am, I have made a space for myself in Indian politics and media out of my own perseverance and hard work.
Legislation has a certain jurisdiction. It can't change mindsets and hearts.
I don't know if many people know that one of the first jobs that I wanted and I lined up for was cabin crew at Jet. I was rejected because I was told I don't have a good personality. Thank God for your rejection. After that, I got a job at McDonald's, and the rest is history.
I have an ideological umbilical cord with the BJP... we are three-generation party supporters... my grandfather was a swayamsevak, my mother, a BJP booth activist.
People understand when you talk to them person to person, at an equal level. I tell them what I can do and what I cannot, and they tell me, 'Didi, we know you don't lie.'
I think governance is about giving people an opportunity to engage with you on subjects that you are responsible for, believing in people's capacity to deliver, and allowing them that platform plus project their work.
I think one of the biggest myths is that education cannot flourish with regulation. Another myth is that wherever the state sponsors education, it doesn't flourish.
I've been in various roles in TV - writer, producer, associate director.
