Smriti Irani gives quirky' response to her critics with old Kyunki photo

Mumbai: Days after Union Minister Smriti Irani faced backlash for her comments on Sabarimala temple’s ban on women of menstruating age, she took to Instagram to post a quirky reply to her critics.

Responding to those trolling her on social media, the cabinet minister posted a picture from her decade-old show “Kyunki… Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi”. The still shows Smriti Irani gagged and tied up to a chair, and she captioned the image “hum bolega to bologe ki bolta hai... (If I speak then you will say that I am blabbing)".

The post has garnered over 7,000 likes and 264 comments since being shared on Instagram.

One user wrote in the comments section, “I know what u mean by this statement... truly every word u speak gets twisted and every word is being dissected to give a different meaning” while another wrote “Ur sense of humor @smritiiraniofficial top clas!!”

However, several people slammed her with one user asking her to come out of her ‘Tulsi’ avatar. “Come out of your Tulsi avataar already. Stop being the typical bahu/indian woman/BJP leader. Support women for god's sake. It surely is difficult to come out of the "Kyuki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi phase" isn't it?” the user wrote. Another wrote, “Appalled at your statement on menstruation, please stop demeaning women”.

Smriti Irani’s comments amid the raging debate on Sabarimala row sparked a controversy on Tuesday.

"I am nobody to speak on the Supreme Court verdict as I am a serving Cabinet minister but I believe I have the right to pray, but not the right to desecrate," the Union textiles minister had said at the Young Thinkers’ Conference organised in Mumbai.

“It is plain common sense. Would you take sanitary napkins soaked in menstrual blood to a friend’s home? You will not. And do you think it is respectful to do the same thing when you walk into the house of God? So that is the difference. That is my personal opinion,” she had added.

The Sabarimala shrine opened on October 17, for the first time after the historic Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the Lord Ayappa shrine. However, no woman of the banned age group was able to enter the hill-top shrine amid massive protests by priests and devotees. The temple closed on October 22.