Smriti Irani Takes Charge of I&B After Venkaiah Naidu's Resignation

New Delhi: Almost one year after she was moved out of the high profile Human Resource Development ministry, Smriti Irani has made a comeback. The Union Textile Minister has been given additional charge of the Information and Broadcast Ministry in place of Venkaiah Naidu who resigned after emerging as NDA's pick for Vice-Presidential Elections. In the last major cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Smriti Irani was shifted from high profile Human Resource Development ministry to Textile. She was replaced by Prakash Javdekar who was also elevated to the cabinet rank. Before her transfer to a relatively less prestigious Textile Ministry last year, Irani had come under opposition fire for her handling of the Rohith Vemula episode and handling of the JNU student protest. Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. This is being seen as a temporary arrangement before PM may go for a major reshuffle post the monsoon session of Parliament. Meanwhile, Venkaiah Naidu has filed his nomination for Vice-presidential Elections. Naidu to take on the Opposition's nominee Gopal Krishna Gandhi. "Venkaiah Naidu has a lot of experience. There were other candidates in the fray, but we have chosen him," BJP president Amit Shah said after a meeting of the party's parliamentary board made the decision. Shah also said BJP's allies in the National Democratic Alliance have welcomed the nomination of Naidu.