PM reshuffles Cabinet, Smriti Irani loses I&B; Piyush Goyal FM for now as Arun Jaitley indisposed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejigged his Cabinet on Monday evening by giving the I&B Ministry to Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from his senior Smriti Irani and asking Piyush Goyal to look after the Finance Ministry till Arun Jaitely recuperates after a kidney transplant.

Goyal will hold the portfolio in addition to his charge of the Railways. Rathore was MoS in the I&B Ministry. He continues to be MoS (independent charge) in the Sports Ministry. Irani will now handle only the Textile Ministry. She was earlier removed as the HRD Minister and replaced by Prakash Javadekar. 

Monday’s other changes included MoS SS Ahluwalia shifting to the Ministry of Electronics and IT from Drinking Water & Sanitation, relieving Alphons Kannanthanam from his additional charge. Alphons will continue to be MoS (independent charge) in the Ministry of Tourism.

It is not immediately known what led to the removal of Irani from the crucial I&B Ministry. It is however believed that her run-ins with controversies, the most recent one surrounding the National Film Awards that showed Rashtrapati Bhavan in bad light, sealed her fate. 

Rashtrapati Bhavan had conveyed to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) its unhappiness at the manner in which it was dragged into a controversy over the Awards. 

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It said it was due to the I&B Ministry’s mismanagement that around 50 award winners skipped the ceremony.

On April 3, she had to rescind an order amending PIB accreditation guidelines to combat fake news, following PMO’s intervention. She also had a run-in with Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash and stopped salaries of the employees of the official broadcaster.

Source: DNA India