CABINET MINISTRY RESHUFFLE: RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE TAKES CHARGE OF I&B, PIYUSH GOYAL TO TAKE OVER FINANCE

The Union government announced a sudden cabinet ministry reshuffle on sunday. Two ministries namely the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Finance has been affected by this decision.

Piyush Goyal has been given additional charge of Union Finance Ministry. He will hold the portfolio till Arun Jaitley recovers from his recent kidney transplant operation at AIIMS on sunday. Furthur, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has been given the responsibility of the I&B ministry with independent charge. He was sworn-in as the Minister of State for I&B ministry in 2014. Former Ministry of Information and Broadcast minister Smirti Irani has been moved out and will now be responsible only for the textile ministry. Addition to these changes, BJP national vice-president SS Ahluwalia has been made the new Minister of State for Electronics.

It is to be strongly noted here that the I&B Ministry has been the most unstable ministry of the Modi government till date. Since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, five ministers have walked the halls of the I&B Ministry, namely Prakash Javadekar (2014), Arun Jaitley (2014–2016), Venkaiah Naidu (2016–2017), Smriti Irani (2017-2018) and now Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (2018-Incumbent). It will be interesting to see what the new changes brings to the ministry.

The cabinet reshuffle was announced through a press release issued from the office of President Ram Nath Kovind. The decision came as the aftermath of Arun Jaitley’s successful kidney transplant on Sunday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.