MUMBAI: In what has come as a shocker, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has excluded Olympian Rajyavardhan Rathore from his new council of ministers. The 49-year-old was hailed as one of the Star ministers during Modi’s term. He led two important posts  – Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

It will be intriguing to look forward to new developments at the I&B ministry, first being the appointment of the I&B minister. Besides, MIB secretary Amit Khare had earlier informed about a new draft in the making at the FICCI FRAMES, held in March 2019. MIB has also invited all the key stakeholders next month to deliberate over altering the uplinking and downlinking policy.

Also, going by the various reports that have earlier highlighted MIB’s intention to formulate certain regulations for OTT platforms, we can anticipate India’s booming streaming sector to be another  focus of the new minister. A national media communication policy is also on the anvil.

The new minister will also have to take a call on the proposed amendment to the Sports Act.

Rathore became a two-term MP from Rajasthan at the time of his joining BJP in 2013. He had defeated fellow Olympian, Congress’ Krishna Poonia in the Jaipur rural constituency.