That is because Irani has been behaving like a vengeful Bahu ever since she became Union I&B minister. It appears she cannot get over her Saas Bhi Khabi Bahu Thi primetime nights.

Used to ply her acting skills in private TV entertainment channels, she doesn’t seem to have the time or money to be real on state-owned radio and television – AIR and Doordarshan. It appears like she stepped out of HRD with nothing in terms of development to show.

These days, she is mighty angry with Prasar Bharati (PB) and has in a pique withheld state funds to pay salaries to thousands of AIR and DD employees, forcing PB to raid its contingency funds to get money to pay January and February salaries.

Irani has reasons to be piqued and upset. Like all Bahus, she is prone to rebellion. But like all Saas, she cannot tolerate rebellion. When Irani sent a couple of diktats to Prasar Bharati, PB had right or wrong reasons to put its foot down. Irani could not stomach it. She put an extra knot on the ministry’s purse-strings.

It all began soon after Smriti Irani was named I&B Minister in 2017. First thing first, she took the India International Film Festival (IFFI) from under the wings of I&B Ministry’s directorate of film festivals and gave it to the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

So far, so much. Nothing you could do about it.

But what she did subsequently raised hackles. Especially, in Doordarshan. Ever since IFFI was launched, DD covered both its opening and closing ceremonies. The last IFFI was held in Goa. And Irani gave the contract to Mumbai-based SOL Production run by Fazilla Allana and Kamna Nirula Menzes. The trio harks back to Irani’s Saas-Bahu days.

Irani hired the two ladies of her Maika (mother’s house) to do the honours in lieu for big money. Trouble began when they sought Rs 2.92 crore in damages. DD’s damages! Word is that Prasar Bharati chairman A Suryaprakash said bollocks to Irani’s representative on PB’s panel Ali Rizvi.

Rizvi took the ‘No’ to Irani. Now, those who have met Suryaprakash know he is not the ‘Behan Irani’ and the ‘Mata Saraswati’ type. Balanced at the best and worst of times, he can lose his cool, and this time he lost it.

At the Prasar Bharati board meeting on February 15, Ali Rizvi rose to warn that salary money could be withheld. “How dare you talk like this on a budget allocation?” Suryaprakash is said to have shouted at Rizvi. “The monthly transfer of salaries to government staffers working in Doordarshan and All India Radio is a budget commitment…it does not come from your home.”

DD and AIR have together around 1,000 employees. Their salaries are paid from PB revenue. But there are another 5,000 central government employees whose incomes come from Central funds. And Smriti Irani signs those cheques.

Irani – who is not Irani but a pucca Gujarati – did not like Suryaprakash ticking off Rizvi. She promptly turned vengeful Bahu and refused to release funds to PB to pay salaries. Money is allocated to PB in the Union budget but is routed through I&B.

The 2.92 crore rupees incident happened in December 2017. A whole winter has passed. But Irani refuses to melt. PB paid the January-February salaries out of its contingency fund. By April the contingency fund will require contingency. Whoever said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has his ministers by the short hair must not have been thinking of Smriti Irani.

One, she has no love lost for the unglamorous Doordarshan. Two, she cannot seem to get over her Saas-Bahu syndrome. The ‘Pay SOL’ diktat has become a burning issue in I&B ministry. PB headquarters Mandi House is in turmoil. Smriti Irani is using ‘transfers’ to settle scores. She has made enemies in AIR, DD and PIB. But she cannot touch Suryaprakash. He cannot be transferred. Recently, he got a second term.

Budget 2018-19 earmarked Rs 2,800 crore for PB. Problem is the allocation is routed through Smriti’s I&B ministry. The money to pay salaries to 5,000 employees is released on a month-to-month basis.

Truth is this is the not the first time Irani has played smart with PB. The first time it happened, she hired two of her journalist cronies – yes, don’t gawk, there are such journalists – to senior PB posts on dream packages that spelled nightmarish to Prasar Bharati.

A Suryaprakash then, too, had put brake and accelerator to good use, leaving the grabbing Irani behind, smarting, snapping, snipping. Like her name suggests, Smriti has a good memory. But Suryaprakash is no spring chicken. He will not give up without a fight. The media will back him. And before she knows, Smriti Irani will be ‘Breaking News’. Soap Opera. (IPA Service)