BJP minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi resigns amid talks of running for VP
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New Delhi: BJP union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has stepped down from the position amid rumours that he may run for Vice President of India.
Naqvi met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president JP Nadda today morning, reported NDTV.
His term in Rajya Sabha is ending tomorrow, and the ruling party has not named him for another term during recent elections. Naqvi and Rajnath Singh are the only two ministers in PM Modi's government who were also in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led-BJP government.
M Venkaiah Naidu's term as Vice President ends on August 10. And BJP has been discussing a representative of a minority community for the second-highest constitutional post. The move is crucial at a time the ruling party is facing an unprecedented backlash over Nupur Sharma's remarks against the Prophet.
The last date for nominations for Vice President is July 19 and the elections will be on August 6. Other candidates are Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, former Union Minister Najma Heptulla, and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
The BJP has nominated a tribal leader from Odisha Droupadi Murmu as its presidential candidate. In support of opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, Telangana minister KTR called Murmu's candidacy "tokenism". He said the Modi government has done nothing for the tribal community in the last eight years.