In 2003, Smriti Irani joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the subsequent year, she was appointed as the Vice-President of the Maharashtra Youth Wing. She contested as a BJP candidate against Kapil Sibal from Chandni Chowk constituency in 2004 general elections. Though she lost the elections, the party acknowledged her hard work by appointing her as an executive member of its central committee. She became the national secretary of the party and the President of the party's women's wing in 2010.

From September 2011 to May 2014, she was a member of Committee on Coal and Steel. In august 2012, she was appointed as a member of Parliamentary Forum on Disaster Management and a member of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Urban Development.

Looking at her leadership skills and her dedication, the BJP gave her the ticket to contest against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, UP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. She lost to Gandhi by a narrow margin. Looking at her determination and the leadership qualities, she was appointed minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Council of Ministers. She, thus, became the youngest member of the cabinet when she became the Union Minister for Human Resource Development on May 26, 2014.

In a Cabinet expansion and reshuffle that took place on July 5, Smriti Irani was made Minister in the Ministry of Textiles.