Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, RCP Singh quit as RS terms end

Naqvi took oath as Minister in the BJP-led NDA Government’s second term after being MoS Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs in the previous term. RCP Singh became Minister of Steel in July last year.

“When the terms of members of a House ends, their tenures as Minister also end. They can be re-appointed as Ministers in which case they will have to take oath again and get six months to be members of either of the two Houses,” former Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary told The Indian Express.

Naqvi and Singh were not renominated by their parties.

According to a communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the resignations with “immediate effect”. It said that on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kovind directed Smriti Irani to take charge of Minority Affairs in addition to her Women and Child Development portfolio — and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to take up the Steel Ministry additionally.

On Wednesday, Naqvi met both Prime Minister Modi and BJP president J P Nadda. Sources said that in the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Modi praised both leaders for their work and contribution.

Naqvi and Bihar Minister Shahnawaz Hussain were the two prominent Muslim faces of the BJP for several years until Najma Heptullah quit the Congress and joined the BJP in 2004, and was made a Governor.

Naqvi had three terms in the Rajya Sabha and was once elected to the Lok Sabha from Rampur.

Although the party is tightlipped about Naqvi’s future, there is speculation that he is being considered for the post of Vice President along with Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan.