Prakash Javadekar takes charge of HRD Ministry, Smriti Irani misses the event

Javadekar, who met Irani on Wednesday, had described her as his “little sister” and said that he would carry on with the “good initiatives” taken by her in the HRD Ministry.

Vijay Goel will be the new Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Sports and Youth Affairs.

“There will be no necessity for [student] agitations”, he said a day before he is scheduled to officially take charge of the ministry from Bharatiya Janata Party leader Smriti Irani.

According to the Constitution, a maximum of 82 ministers can be accommodated in the Cabinet. He has invited Irani to come to the function where he will officially take charge of the ministry on Thursday.

Even without taking over, Javadekar got down to work. He clarified that when he called Irani “ignorant”, he was not referring to her educational qualifications, which have been a subject of much speculation and controversy in the past. She, however, did not turn up.

“I had a word with her in the morning on phone”, the Minister said.

Javadekar said that he was part of JP movement and had gone to jail.

Javadekar said his 92-year-old mother, who stays with him. was a primary school teacher herself and he “values” the contribution of teachers to the society.

Ravi Shankar Prasad also took charge at as the new Law and Justice Minister.

Whatever may be the case, the Twitter wasn’t kind to Irani, who recently found herself trolled on her retort to a minister’s “dear” remark as well. “I would only say that “Kuchh to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna” (People will talk, it is their business)”.

Smriti Irani, India’s controversial and most trolled minister, lost her important portfolio Tuesday in a sweeping cabinet reshuffle that aims to reboot the two-year-old government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Her shift in responsibilities notwithstanding, Irani believes that her popularity with the media is intact.

She played up her achievements as Human Resource Development Minister.

“She should not have dealt with these controversies in such aggressive manner”.

She noted that the textile sector provides employment to a large number of women. Are you talking about more suicides by dalit students? “The ministry was given to Javadekar, who is known to be a cool and clam person”, a source told IANS.