Smriti Irani replaces Venkaiah Naidu as Information and Broadcasting Minister

Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani on 18 July 2017 was given additional charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

The decision was taken following Venkaiah Naidu’s resignation from the post to contest for the Vice-President election as the candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

On the other hand, Union Minister of Mines Narendra Singh Tomar has been handed over the charge of the Urban Development Ministry, which was also held by Naidu.

Naidu had resigned as the Union Minister on the night of 16 July 2017 after he was named by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its vice presidential candidate against Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the opposition's nominee.

Political career of Smriti Irani

• Born on 23 March 1976, Smriti Zubin Irani is an Indian politician, former model, television actress and producer.

• She is a Member of Parliament, being nominated to the Rajya Sabha from the state of Gujarat.

• She joined the BJP in 2003.

• In the 2004 general elections for the 14th Lok Sabha, she contested unsuccessfully against Kapil Sibal from the Chandni Chowk constituency in Delhi.

• In early 2010, she was appointed the National Secretary of BJP. Later, she was also appointed the All India President of the BJP's women's wing, BJP Mahila Morcha.

• In August 2011, she was sworn in as a member of parliament from Gujarat to the Rajya Sabha.

• She contested the 2014 general elections against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi constituency of Uttar Pradesh; however, she lost to Gandhi by 107923 votes.

• On 26 May 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed her as the Minister of Human Resource Development in his cabinet. However, her appointment was criticised by many people owing to her lack of formal higher education.

• In July 2016, the Ministry of Human Resource Development was taken away from her, and she was given the Ministry of Textiles instead, in a cabinet reshuffle.