Smriti Irani cries foul as Congress targets her over ‘illegal’ Goa bar

Union Minister accuses the Opposition party of running a malicious campaign.

Union Minister Smriti Irani addresses a press conference at her residence in New Delhi on July 23, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI

Union Minister Smriti Irani accused the Congress of running a “malicious campaign” and “character assassination” after the principal Opposition party on Saturday alleged that her daughter was running an “illegal” bar-cum-restaurant in Goa and demanded the Union Minister’s resignation.

Ms. Irani said her daughter was being targeted “because of her mother’s vocal stand on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s ₹5,000-crore loot in the National Herald case”.

“My daughter’s fault is that her mother holds a press conference on the loot of ₹5,000 crore by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Her fault is that her mother fought against Rahul Gandhi in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” Ms. Irani said, asserting that her “18-year-old daughter is a first-year college student and does not run any bar”.

Daring the Congress to show proof of any wrongdoing, Ms. Irani added, “I will seek answers in the court of law and court of people”.

Taking to Twitter, Mr. Khera responded, “Which Smriti Zubin Irani is lying? The one who on 14th April 2022 said she was proud of her daughter’s restaurant or the one who today says her daughter has nothing to do with the Silly Souls Bar & Cafe?”

Dear PM Modi,
you talked so much about getting the country rid of corruption. Can you take an action on these incidents of corruption by a minister of your own cabinet? #स्मृति_ईरानी_चुप्पी_तोड़ोpic.twitter.com/6enRTmXUZa

— Congress (@INCIndia) July 23, 2022

The voice which is loud every time it attacks others on baseless BJP-made agendas is quiet on the fraud committed by her own family. Why?#स्मृति_ईरानी_चुप्पी_तोड़ोpic.twitter.com/CdrcniyXGZ

— Congress (@INCIndia) July 23, 2022

He also tagged a news report from April in which it was mentioned that Ms. Irani had shared food writer Kunal Vijaykar’s positive review of Silly Souls restaurant, run by her daughter.

Earlier, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Mr. Khera and Mahila Congress chief Netta D’souza addressed a joint press conference where they alleged that the bar licence was taken in the name of a person who was no longer alive and an official of the Excise Department had issued a show cause notice.

“The licence by Smriti Irani’s daughter is in the name of a person who died in May 2021, and the licence was taken in June 2022 in Goa. But the person in whose name the licence is, had died 13 months ago. This is illegal,” Mr. Khera said.

Mr. Ramesh added that the charges against Ms. Irani’s family were based on documents obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act. “We demand from the Prime Minister that Smriti Irani be immediately sacked as a minister from the Union Cabinet,” Mr. Khera said.