Smriti Irani, Amit Shah to contest Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat

The BJP parliamentary board today decided to allow BJP president Amit Shah and textiles & information and broadcasting(I&B) minister Smriti Irani to contest the Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat.

Amit Shah, former MLA from Gujarat led Prime Minister Modi's 2014 election campaign and was the mastermind behind BJP's sweep in the state elections recently in Uttar Pradesh. He was also the chief strategist of the party during the Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Assam assembly elections last year which was won by the BJP.

BJP minister Smriti Irani has been a long time fire fighter for the party. Irani a key member in PM Modi's cabinet shot to fame after the BJP pitched her against Rahul Gandhiin Amethi during the 2014 general elections which she lost narrowly.

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Smriti Irani'sfirebrand politicsdid not go unnoticed as Modi appointed her as the HRD minister in 2014 but moved her to textile ministry later after she got embroiled in controversies in her ministry. She was given additional charge of information and broadcasting ministry afterVenkaiah Naidu quit the ministry to fight the vice-presidential elections due in August.