PM reshuffles Cabinet; Irani removed as I&B Minister

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 14

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In a surprise move, Smriti Irani, whose tenure as the Information and Broadcasting Minister was mired in controversy, was on Tuesday night divested of the portfolio as Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshuffled his Cabinet.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was given the additional charge of the Finance Ministry and Corporate Affairs.

Goyal will handle portfolios held by Jaitley who today underwent a successful kidney transplant at AIIMS, here.

However, the big news of the day just ahead of the crucial Karnataka elections result was Rathore being given independent control of the prestigious I&B ministry in place of Irani, who now just holds the Textiles Ministry.

So while Rathore emerged as a gainer, Irani (who earlier was also stripped of the important HRD Ministry) came out a loser in the reshuffle along with Alphons Kannanthanam, who too was eased out of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation SS Ahluwalia was relieved of his charge and assigned the portfolio held by Alphons, who will though continue as the Minister of State for Tourism.

Sources claim Rathore was given the big jump in view of upcoming elections in Rajasthan—a state he represents in the Lok Sabha.

Also, BJP chief Amit Shah is said to be at loggerheads with incumbent Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje.

Rathore, “who is quite popular among youth and the state in general”, is being groomed for a larger job, they claim.

Irani’s tenure as the I&B minister was anything but smooth just like it had been in the HRD Ministry.

As the I&B Minister, she remained embroiled in a number of controversies, ruffling several feathers.

The most recent one was the National Film Awards when several winners skipped the ceremony after it was announced that President Ram Nath Kovind would felicitate only some winners.

Kovind was said to be "very unhappy" with the way it was handled.

Before that, a directive from her ministry on cracking down on fake news had led to a massive outrage.

Faced with criticism, the prime minister had to ask the ministry to cancel the contentious guidelines perceived as the government's attempts at "muzzling" freedom of press.

She had also embroiled in a row with the Prasar Bharti board and certain postings in Indian Information Service (IIS) where officers flagged “discrepancies and shortcomings” in the transfer orders executed "without consulting the heads of the media units”.