Degree row: Smriti says conspiracy to malign her image

Union minister and BJP candidate from Amethi Smriti Irani on Friday hit back at the Congress for questioning her educational qualifications saying that there was a conspiracy to malign her image.

''I come from an ordinary family and when an ordinary Indian woman decides to do something, she succeeds,'' Smriti said during an informal chat with reporters in Amethi.

Smriti Irani is contesting against Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

''Let them (Cong) humiliate me....the people of Amethi will give them a befitting reply,'' she said.

The minister's educational qualifications once again came into limelight after her affidavit, submitted to the Election Commission (EC), mentioned that she had not cleared graduation.

Congress alleged that in her earlier affidavit to the EC, Smriti Irani had claimed that she was a graduate.

Congress has demanded that her nomination papers from Amethi be cancelled for furnishing contradictory information about her degrees.