Unfriend notice

Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani was recently dropped from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s 111-member national executive. There have been media reports time and again that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) wasn't entirely comfortable with Irani's appointment as a Cabinet minister. Senior BJP leaders aren't telling if the RSS factor played a part in Irani getting dropped from the national executive. But her friends and well-wishers are peeved. They argue that much of the bad press that Irani earned was because of her efforts to accommodate RSS interests in the education sector; so, it was surprising that it didn't extend support when she needed it.