Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and RCP Singh, two union ministers, have left Prime Minister Modi’s cabinet. Both ministers resigned as required by the constitution on Thursday, when their terms as Rajya Sabha MPs were slated to expire. As of Friday, they would no longer be members of parliament. Singh was the minister of steel in the Modi 2.0 Cabinet, and Naqvi was in charge of the minority affairs ministry.
According to sources, on Wednesday, one day before their terms in the Rajya Sabha came to an end, Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and R C P Singh handed in their resignation letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sources claim that earlier in the day, at a cabinet meeting, Modi praised Singh and Naqvi for the services they rendered to the nation while serving as ministers.
One year after entering the Union Cabinet, Singh—a former bureaucrat and former confidant of Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar and leader of the JD (U)—resigned on his birthday.
He received a birthday greeting from Prime Minister Modi in the morning.
Both ministers resigned as required by the constitution on Thursday, when their terms as Rajya Sabha MPs were slated to expire. As of Friday, they would no longer be members of parliament.
After Naqvi, there won’t be any Muslim ministers at the federal level, and the BJP won’t have any Muslim MPs among its close to 400 lawmakers.
After not being chosen in the most recent Rajya Sabha elections, there have been rumours that Naqvi is being considered for the position of vice president, which will be filled on August 6, or for another important position.
He was refused a Rajya Sabha ticket because he had lost Nitish Kumar’s favour. Now that he has resigned, the BJP has just two partners in the Cabinet: Ramdas Athawale of the RPI (A) and Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal.
Singh was the Union Steel Minister, and Naqvi was in charge of the Minority Affairs Ministry. Who would be in charge of these ministries has yet to be decided.
With two additional openings in the Union Cabinet and no representation from the JD (U), the BJP’s main ally, there is a chance that a cabinet enlargement or reshuffle will occur soon. But as of yet, there was no formal statement.
Some news sources say that the BJP could choose Naqvi to be the governor or lieutenant governor of a state or union territory or to run for vice president in the August elections.
