Union Cabinet reshuffle: Rajyavardhan Rathore replaces Smriti Irani as I&B minister, Piyush Goyal gets finance ministry
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight removed Smriti Irani as the Information and Broadcasting minister and gave the portfolio to Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in a minor but significant reshuffle of his cabinet, in which Rail Minister Piyush Goyal was given the additional charge of the finance ministry.
Irani, whose tenure as the I&B Minister was mired in controversy, was today divested of the portfolio as her deputy, Rajyavardhan Rathore, was given the charge of the key portfolio.
Irani, however, will continue to hold the textiles portfolio. This is the second time that Irani has been moved from a key ministry as she was earlier shifted from the HRD Ministry to the relatively low-profile Textile Ministry.
Railways minister Goyal will handle the finance portfolio till Arun Jaitley recovers. Jaitley underwent a successful kidney transplant at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) today and is stable after the over four-hour-long surgery, hospital authorities said.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said that during the indisposition of Arun Jaitley, the portfolio of Finance and Ministry of Corporate Affairs, have been "temporarily" assigned to Goyal.
S S Ahluwalia, who was until recently the Minister of State for Drinking Water & Sanitation, has been assigned the portfolio of Ministry of State in the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, an official release from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.