Smriti Irani takes charge of Women and Child Development ministry
Smriti Irani
Bharatiya Janata Party'sSmriti Irani took charge of Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry on Monday.
She was welcomed by senior officials of the ministry and the minister of state in the WCD ministry Debashree Chaudhuri.
She also held a meeting with senior officials of the ministry.
Irani, the youngest face in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet at 43, emerged as a 'giant slayer' after defeating Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi in the recently held Lok Sabha polls.
She has retained the charge of Textiles Ministry, a portfolio she held during the first term of the Narendra Modi government.
Irani succeeds outgoing WCD minister Maneka Gandhi, who was dropped from the Union council of ministers this time.
In past, she has held portfolios of Human Resource Development and Information and Broadcasting during the first term of the Modi government.
The popular TV actor-turned-politician had her first brush with electoral politics in 2004 when she contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Chandni Chowk seat in Delhi, but lost to Congress heavyweight Kapil Sibal.