MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: The long awaited cabinet reshuffle has thrown up a surprise as far as the information and broadcasting portfolio is concerned. The man whos got affected the maximum is information and broadcasting minister S. Jaipal Reddy.

While Reddy was today moved out of information and broadcasting ministry and given the charge of urban development, he has been replaced by Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi.

New I&B minister Dasmunshi also retains the parliamentary affairs portfolio which he got as additional charge after the exit of Ghulam Nabi Azad a fortnight ago. Water Resources, till now held by Dasmunshi,however moves to heavy industry and public enterprises minister Santosh Mohan Deb as an additional charge.

Dasmunshi, a career politician, also heads Indian football's official body All India Football Federation (AIFF), which recently signed a telecast deal for domestic football with Zee Sports for an undisclosed amount.

Reddy, meanwhile, has been given charge of urban development while retaining the portfolio of culture minister.

Dasmunshi, a Congress Party loyalist, unlike Reddy (who has moved around a bit amongst political parties), contested from Raiganj West Bengal and won the parliamentary seat.

Though Reddy was dignified when the news broke, he did admit to a journalist in the evening that there was a soft campaign in the Congress Party against him.

Speaking to a TV channel, a seemingly upset Reddy responded by defending his record in the I&B ministry. "There has never been a flurry of activity in policy making (in the I&B ministry) in the last 58 years as there was in the last one year," he was quoted by ndtv.com as saying

In the meanwhile, the Prime Minister retained the foreign ministry portfolio that had become headless after minister Natwar Singh was shunted out in the aftermath of the UN-sponsored Volcker report.