Smriti Irani given additional charge of I&B ministry, Tomar gets urban development min

Naidu resigned as union minister after he was named by BJP as its vice presidential candidate

A day after Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu resigned as a cabinet minister, union minister Smriti Irani was given additional charge of the Information and Broadcast Ministry today, while Narendra Tomar was given the additional responsibility of the Ministry for Urban Development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed the same through a tweet.

M Venkaiah Naidu resigned as union minister last night after he was named by the BJP as its vice presidential candidate against Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the opposition's nominee.

Shri @MVenkaiahNaidu has resigned from his ministerial responsibilities. Additional charge of @Moud_India has been given to Shri @nstomar.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 18, 2017

The additional charge of the Ministry of I&B has been given to @smritiirani.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 18, 2017

PM Modi also needs to reassign the defence ministry, held by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley since Manohar Parrikar shifted to Goa as Chief Minister earlier this year, and the environment ministry.

Sources said though Naidu was not required to resign, he did so "to set high political standards".

PM Modi and senior ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj are expected to accompany Mr Naidu when he files his nomination today for the August 5 election.