Cabinet reshuffle: Rajyavardhan Rathore replaces Smriti Irani at I&B, Piyush Goyal gets temporary charge of Finance Ministry

PM Narendra Modi today replaced Smriti Irani as Information & Broadcasting Minister with Rajyavardhan Rathore even as he brought in Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal to look after the Finance Ministry (additional charge) till the time FM Arun Jaitley is not fit enough to handle the assignment. Jaitley underwent a kidney transplant today and is recovering well after that. Rathore is the Union Minister of Sports. He has been given independent charge of I&B. Irani was handling the ministry as an additional charge ever since Venkaiah Naidu quit. He was elected as the Vice President of India. 

In other changes, SS Ahluwalia has been relieved of the charge of Minister of State, Drinking Water and Sanitation, and assigned the portfolio of Minister of State, Electronics and Information Technology. Alphons Kannanthanam, Minister of State, has been relieved of the charge of MoS of Electronics and Information Technology.

This is the second setback for Smriti Irani during her Cabinet stint as in July 2016, she was relieved of her post as as the Human  Resources Minister by PM Modi with the ministry then going to Prakash Javadekar, the then environment minister. Irani however, is still in charge of Textiles Ministry. Rathore was the MoS I&B since 2014 and was appointed as a minister with independent charge for Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports later on in 2017. Among the other changes is S.S. Ahluwalia being relieved of the charge of Minister of State, Drinking Water and Sanitation. However, he has been assigned the portfolio of Minister of State, Electronics and Information Technology. Alphons Kannanthanam was holding this post till now. He retains independent charge of the Tourism Ministry though.

The Cabinet reshuffle was announced by Rashtrapati Bhawan in a statement that read, “The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed the following reallocation of portfolios amongst the members of the Union Council of Ministers.” While small, and mainly triggered by Jaitley's illness, this is nevertheless the 5th reshuffle of the Cabinet by PM Narendra Modi since coming to power in 2014. 

The press communique from Rashtrapati Bhawan said, "Alphons, the Tourism Minister (Independent Charge), be relieved of the charge of Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology."

At the same time, it also added that, "S.S. Ahluwalia be relieved of the charge of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and assigned the portfolio of Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology."