“The CBI is investigating the matter…our government is with the victim’s family,” Smriti Irani said. (File)
In a major Cabinet reshuffle of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, just a year before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Smriti Irani was Monday replaced by her deputy Rajyavardhan Rathore as the new information and broadcasting minister. Irani, whose tenure was mired in controversy, is now left with the Textile Ministry only.
In July last year, Irani had assumed the charge of Information and Broadcasting Ministry after M Venkaiah Naidu had resigned following his nomination as NDA’s vice presidential candidate.
This is the second time that Irani has been moved from a key ministry as she was earlier shifted from the HRD Ministry to the relatively low-profile Textile Ministry. Notably, the latest development comes more than a month after the Irani-led I&B Ministry, following orders from the PMO, withdrew its press release which stated that journalists who “created” or “propagated” fake news would have lost their accreditation with the government. The guidelines drew sharp reaction from the opposition Congress and journalists.
During her tenure as the HRD minister, Irani was sharply criticised for her handling of the row over Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula suicide at Hyderabad university. It swelled into a massive political row.
After the Modi government came to power in 2014, Irani’s educational qualifications, or the lack of it, made national headlines. In a submission to the Election Commission, Irani claimed she completed her BA in 1996 through a long-distance or correspondence program from the University of Delhi. However, in 2014, Irani claimed she had secured a commerce degree from the School of Open Learning, Delhi University.
She also had claimed to have secured a degree from Yale University, but it transpired that she had only attended a week-or so-long programme under the India-Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program.
Recently, during the national award ceremony, most filmmakers boycotted the event after they got to know that the awards will be presented to them by Irani and not President Ram Nath Kovind, as has been the tradition.