Smriti in Twitter war over 'dear'

Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Bihar Education Minister Ashok Choudhary on Tuesday locked horns over a tweet in which the latter addressed the BJP leader as “Dear Smriti Irani Ji..”

Smriti was in Bihar on Tuesday. While on her way to Bhagalpur where she was supposed to attend Vikas Parva, a function organised to celebrate Narendra Modi’s two years in office, she landed in Patna.

Nitish’s Cabinet Minister Ashok Choudhary, who is credited with cleansing the rot in Bihar’s education system, on Tuesday morning tweeted: “Dear Smriti Irani Ji, Kabhi rajniti aur bhashan se waqt mile to siksha niti ki taraf bhi dhyan de. (Dear Smriti Irani Ji, if you get time from politics and speeches, pay some attention towards the new education policy as well).

The terminology “dear” affixed to the first-time Union minister made Smriti so offended that she tweeted: “Mahilaon ko ‘dear’ keh ke kab se sambodhit karne lage Ashok Ji” (Since when have you started addressing women as “dear”, Ashok Ji?). The Bihar minister later clarified that “Dear Smriti Irani Ji…” was written out of respect and not to show anyone in poor light.