New Delhi: Smriti Irani, Union Human Resource Development Minister, has stoked a fresh controversy by meeting an astrologer.
Smriti travelled to Karoi village in Rajasthan's Bhilwara along with her husband Zubin Irani to meet Pandit Nathulal Vyas on Sunday.
The visit was aimed at expressing gratitude to the astrologer who had told the BJP leader last year that she would become a minister, even if she loses the General Election 2014.
And this is what happened! Even though Smriti lost to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, she was given the HRD Ministry in Narendra Modi's Cabinet.
During the meeting on Sunday, Pandit Vyas predicted, after looking at Smriti's palms, that she would achieve success and attain big posts.
During the four-hour-long meeting, the minister reportedly also asked questions on how things would turn out for her in future.
The meeting has generated a controversy, with several opposition leaders slamming Smriti for believing in astrology even though she is the country's education minister.
Defending her visit, the minister said today that she didn't even have a birth chart. She, however, did not deny meeting the astrologer or enquiring about her future.
Ever since becoming the minister, Smriti has been mired in controversies including on her educational qualification and the move to scrap teaching of German in favour of Sanskrit at Kendriya Vidyalayas mid-session.
