Highlights
- President accepted resignations of Mukhtar Naqvi as Minority Affairs minister & RCP Singh as Steel
- Smriti Irani, Jyotiraditya Scindia assigned additional charges of Minority Affairs and Steel
- PM lauded services of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and RCP Singh after they resigned as cabinet ministers
Modi Cabinet News: Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Jyotiraditya Scindia have been assigned additional charges of Minority Affairs and Ministry of Steel respectively after two Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh resigned from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect.
Both Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh resigned as Union Ministers earlier in the day.
Post their resignations, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind, as advised by PM Modi, accepted the resignations of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh from Union Council of Ministers.
Further, as advised by Prime Minister Modi, the President directed that Smriti Zubin Irani, Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, in addition to her existing portfolio and Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Steel, in addition to his existing portfolio.
A day before the end of their Rajya Sabha term, Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and RCP Singh resigned from the Union Cabinet.
Naqvi, the Minority Affairs Minister, and Singh, the Steel Minister, have submitted their resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sources said that the Prime Minister lauded the contribution of Naqvi and Singh as ministers during a meeting of the Union Cabinet - the last for both ministers - earlier in the day.
Sources said that after the Cabinet meeting, Naqvi, who was also the Deputy Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, met BJP chief JP Nadda at party headquarters.
Singh, who is from the Janata Dal-United, was made minister during last year's cabinet reshuffle.
The BJP and the JD-U both did not give ticket to Naqvi and Singh during last month's biennial Rajya Sabha polls.
There is speculation doing rounds in political circles that Naqvi may be made the BJP- led NDA candidate for the post of Vice President.
"Several names are doing rounds and Naqvi's name is one of them. There is also speculation that he may be appointed Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir," a party insider said.
(With inputs from IANS)
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