New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday accepted the resignations of Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla and Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises G.M. Siddeshwara with immediate effect.
Under Heptulla, the ministry held the record for being able to spend 98 per cent of the entire Plan Budget in 2015-16 on various schemes and programmes meant for the minority community.
Meanwhile, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President has directed that Minister of State Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, shall be assigned the Independent charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
Siddeshwara’s job will be taken over by Babul Supriyo, who was junior minister for Urban Development.
The development comes days after Modi, in a much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle, inducted 19 new faces, who were chosen after an exhaustive vetting process to carry forward the government's vision of 'Gaon, Garib aur Kisan'.
