The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government that took oath on Thursday has appointed Smriti Irani as the minister of women and child development.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a landslide 303 seats out of the total of 543 while the opposition Congress party won just eight more seats than its abysmal 2014 performance. In all, BJP and its allies -- the NDA -- won 353 seats with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance topped 92 seats.

Irani won the traditional parliamentary seat of the Congress Party, Amethi, defeating Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Irani will also take charge as minister of textiles.

Smriti IraniThe post was earlier held by Maneka Gandhi of the BJP, who won from Sultanpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She has defeated Chandra Bhadra Singh of the Bahujan Samaj Party. A well-known environmentalist and animal rights leader, Maneka has been a minister in four governments and has authored a number of books in the areas of etymology, law and animal welfare.

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First Published:May 31, 2019 1:26 PM IST