Smriti Irani gets I&B, Narendra Tomar Urban Ministry after Venkaiah Naidu resigns

Textiles Minister Smriti Irani was on Tuesday given the additional charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after M Venkaiah Naidu resigned from the Cabinet to contest the vice-presidential poll.

The portfolio of urban development, which too was with Naidu, was given to Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, the PMO said. The BJP had on Monday decided to field Naidu as NDA’s candidate for the post of vice president. 

BJP sources said a reshuffle in the Union council of ministers is expected after the monsoon session of Parliament, and some new faces could also be inducted into the Cabinet.

While Manohar Parrikar’s move to Goa as its chief minister in March left the defence ministry without a full-time Cabinet minister, the death of Anil Dave in May caused a vacancy in the environment ministry.

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Prime Minister Modi first expanded his cabinet in November 2014 when he inducted 21 new faces, including Parrikar as defence minister.

In July last year, Modi undertook another reshuffle in which he appointed Prakash Javadekar as the human resource development minister, replacing Smriti Irani, who was shifted to textiles.

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