BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi resigned as Union minister of minority affairs on Wednesday amid rumours that the ruling party is actively considering someone from the minority community as its candidate to the post of Vice President. Naqvi submitted his resignation after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J.P. Nadda earlier in the day.
Another Union minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh also submitted resignation on Wednesday.
Naqvi was also the Deputy Leader of Rajya Sabha. Both Naqvi and Singh's tenures end on Thursday, but the BJP chose not to name him for another term during the recent elections to the upper house.
The Election Commission has issued notification for the August 6 poll to elect the next vice president, setting in motion the process of filing nomination papers by candidates.
The term of incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10 and the next vice president will take oath on August 11.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has a clear edge in the election, in which the members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including the nominated ones, are eligible to vote.
There have been rumours that the BJP will consider someone from the minority community to the second highest constitutional post at a time when the BJP is facing intense backlash over its former spokeperson Nupur Sharma's comments about Prophet Muhammad during a TV debate.
