Union minister Smriti Irani was discussed in the Central Hall of Parliament today and her apparent change in fortunes, from a sidelined minister to one who has been handed an additional portfolio.

The textiles minister has now also been given the I&B portfolio after Venkaiah Naidu resigned the post ahead of filing his nomination as the NDA's vice-presidential candidate.

This is a nod to those who speculated that Smriti Irani will be the BJP candidate against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2019 general elections. When Irani entered Central Hall, MPs walked up to her and wisher her.

However, she remained reserved and said officials were yet to brief her and only then would she comment on questions like the censorship demands for Indu Sarkar. The Congress wants the film, based on the Emergency, banned. As an aside, Irani is a polyglot. The minister speaks six languages -- Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali, English and Farsi. The impression in Central Hall was that she would give Rahul Gandhi a tough fight.