Smriti Irani assigned charge of Ministry of Minority Affairs after Naqvi resigns

Both Naqvi and Singh resigned a day ahead of their Rajya Sabha term’s completion. 

According to a correspondence issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Minister of Women and Child Development in the Union Cabinet of India Smriti Zubin Irani has been assigned the charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Further Union Minister for civil aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia has been assigned the charge of the Ministry of Steel. 

According to the Rashtrapati Bhavan statement, “…as advised by the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Smriti Zubin Irani, Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, in addition to her existing portfolio.”

Earlier, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Steel Minister RCP Singh have submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, a day ahead of their Rajya Sabha term gets over, government sources informed on Wednesday.

This is the first time two sitting ministers are out of both Houses of Parliament.

Naqvi, a senior BJP leader, is also the deputy leader of the Rajya Sabha. With Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi resigning on Wednesday and his Rajya Sabha term ending a day later, there will be no Muslim face in the Union Council of Ministers and among the BJP’s 395 Members of Parliament.

RCP Singh is a minister in the Modi Cabinet from JD(U) quota. 

Recently, several BJP leaders were elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. However, the party did not give a Rajya Sabha ticket to Naqvi. Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar denied RCP Singh’s election to the Rajya Sabha.

Earlier in the day, Modi had lauded both Naqvi and Singh during the cabinet meeting for their contribution to the country during their tenure, in an apparent suggestion of it being their final cabinet meeting, sources said.

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