Smriti Irani takes charge of Ministry of Minority Affairs

Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday took additional charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

The Ministry was earlier held by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi whose Rajya Sabha term ended today.

President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the resignation of Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Steel Minister RCP Singh from the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.

"The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignations of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect, under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution," read the notification of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Following this, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani has been given the additional charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs while Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has been given the additional charge of the Ministry of Steel.

Two Cabinet Ministers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and RCP Singh who ceased to be members of the Rajya Sabha from today resigned from the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.

According to the sources, this was the first time that a sitting minister has been out of both Houses of Parliament.

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.

Pertinent to mention here, RCP Singh, who comes from an ally party in Bihar, JD(U), had sworn in as a minister in the Modi government a year ago on July 7, 2021. However, in the recent announcement of the Rajya Sabha tickets, Nitish Kumar denied RCP Singh's election to the Rajya Sabha.

A Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant in Tripura after the resignation of Manik Saha who was recently elected to the Tripura Assembly. Besides this, there is no Rajya Sabha seat which is going to be vacant in the next few months.

(ANI)