Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, RCP Singh resign from Modi Cabinet
EW DELHI: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and RCP Singh on Wednesday resigned from the Union Cabinet, a day before completion of their Rajya Sabha terms, setting off a fresh round of speculation about likely expansion of the Modi ministry. Naqvi was in charge of the minority affairs ministry while Singh was the steel minister.
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and women and child development minister Smriti Irani have been given additional charge of the ministries of steel and minority affairs, respectively.
Resignations of both Naqvi and Singh had looked imminent after BJP and JD(U) decided not to give fresh terms to them. Naqvi, lone Muslim face in the Union Cabinet and also BJP’s deputy leader in the Upper House, served three terms in addition to a two year-spell he got because of a vacancy.
Singh, solitary representative of JD(U) in the Union Cabinet, also served three full terms. His ouster leaves food processing minister Pashupati Kumar Paras of LJP as the only member of the Cabinet who is not from BJP.
Once the closest confidant of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar who also became the president of JD(U), Singh was denied a fresh term amid speculation of estrangement with his political mentor as well as current party chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh “Lalan”. The seat, instead, went to Chiru Mahto, chief of party’s Jharkhand unit-a surprise choice considering that the party cannot boast of too much of presence in that state.
RCP’s next move might be worth watching in view of speculation that he might be headed towards BJP.
It is not clear whether JD(U) will like to nominate one of its own against the vacancy in the government.
Besides Paras, ministers of state Ramdas Athawale (RPI) and Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) are other two non-BJP members in the Cabinet.
