Smriti Irani is no more the country's Education Minister. In a big cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Ms Irani has been moved out of the Human Resource Development or HRD ministry and Prakash Javadekar, promoted to cabinet rank this morning, will hold the portfolio now.
Ms Irani, whose two-year tenure saw several controversies, has been moved to the Textile Ministry, seen as a less glamorous assignment. There is speculation that the shift could have something to do with a key role for the young minister in Uttar Pradesh, where elections that the BJP sees as a must-win will be held early next year.
In other important changes made by PM Modi, Venkaiah Naidu will now be Minister for Information and Broadcasting, a portfolio held by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as an additional charge. Sadananda Gowda loses the Law Ministry to Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is also the Information Technology Minister.
Mr Naidu will no more hold charge of the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio, which will now be held by Ananth Kumar. Venkaiah Naidu retains the Urban Development Ministry.
