Union Minister Smriti Irani on Sunday said she would leave politics the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to hang his boots, though she asserted that he would be around for "long years".
She was speaking at the Words Count festival here in a discussion titled 'Scripting Her Story, From Star to Star Campaigner'.
A member of the audience asked her when would one see her as a "pradhan sevak" (prime servant), a title often used by Modi to describe his role as the head of the Union government.
"Never. I entered politics to work under charismatic leaders. I was very lucky to work under the leadership of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee and I am currently serving under Modi ji," Irani replied.
"The day 'pradhan sevak' Narendra Modi decides to hang his boots, I will also leave Indian politics," she said.
"I decide for myself how much of my life I will give for my country, my society. In an independent country, if I cannot take a decision for myself, what is the use of that independence?" she said. PTI