A day after Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant quit as the Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday accepted his resignation and gave the additional charge of the Ministry to Cabinet Minister Prakash Javadekar.
In a statement, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said that the President, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has accepted Sawant's resignation from the Union Council of Ministers with immediate effect.
It said Javadekar, who holds the portfolios of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, as well as Information and Broadcasting, would be given the additional charge.
"Further, as advised by the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Javadekar be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, in addition to his existing portfolios," it added.
Sawant was Shiv Sena's sole representative in the Union Cabinet formed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA.
His resignation came after the BJP on Sunday expressed its inability to form a government in Maharashtra, despite being the single largest party.
Despite having a pre-poll alliance, the BJP and Shiv Sena were locked in a tussle over the Chief Minister's post after the Assembly election results were announced on October 24.
The BJP got 105 seats and Shiv Sena bagged 56 seats. The combined seat strength of the two parties was 161, way past the majority mark of 145 in the 288-member Assembly.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), with 54 seats, demanded that the Shiv Sena will have to walk out of the NDA for any alliance in the state. The Congress got 44 seats in the 288-member Assembly.
CAPF deployment for phase 2 of polls in Bengal to increase to 303 companies
Taking lessons from reports of sporadic violence in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal on Friday, especially at Cooch Behar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to increase the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) for the second phase on April 26.
China-made drone seized near India-Pak border in Punjab
The Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday said it has seized a China-made drone near the India-Pakistan border in Punjab's Amritsar district along with a packet of 500 gm of heroin.
87 killed, over 80 injured as heavy rains wreak havoc in Pakistan
At least 87 people have been killed and 82 others injured in separate rain-triggered incidents in Pakistan over the past week as heavy downpours continued to wreak havoc in parts of the country, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.
'Yes, I am BJP's B team leader, so what', Deve Gowda responds to Rahul Gandhi
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) president H.D. Deve Gowda on Friday responding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'JD-S is BJP's B team' remark, said: "Yes. I am BJP's B team leader. So what?"
Veddas of Sri Lanka have close genetic affinity with Indians, reveals study
The Vedda, an indigenous group of Sri Lanka, has a close genetic affinity with the Indian population, revealed a landmark study by 10 researchers from five institutions
LS polls: First phase sees 60.03 per cent voting against 69.43 per cent in 2019
Voting for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections was held on Friday for 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories (UTs) amid reports of violence from some parts of West Bengal and Manipur.
6 Eastern Nagaland districts abstain from voting amid shutdown call over ‘frontier territory’ demand
Despite the indefinite shutdown call given by the Naga bodies from Thursday evening, the Election Commission made all efforts to conduct polling in the six districts covering 20 of the state's 60 Assembly segments.
DMs, SPs of violence-hit MP districts transferred
The farmers agitation entered its eighth day on Thursday. The peasants have been on strike since June 1, demanding loan waiver and fair price for their produce.