Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jul 5: In a major reshuffle of cabinet portfolios following the induction of 19 new faces in the BJP-led union government, Smriti Irani lost the coveted HRD ministry while Sadananda Gowda lost the law portfolio.
Smriti Irani has now been given the charge of textiles ministry and Prakash Javadekar, who was elevated to the rank of cabinet minister, will now head the HRD ministry.
Sadananda Gowda, who, according to reports, was expected to be dropped from the cabinet, has been assigned the less important ministry of statistics and programme implementation.
The law ministry has been given to Ravi Shankar Prasad, sources said. He was previously the minister of communication and information technology.
Parliamentary affairs ministry has been divested from Venkaiah Naidu and given to Ananth Kumar.
Arun Jaitley will retain the finance ministry, but lost the information and broadcasting ministry to Venkaiah Naidu, who is also the urban development minister.
M J Akbar, one of the new entrants in the cabinet, has been made minister of state for external affairs.