New Delhi: Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and labour minister Santosh Gangwar have resigned from the union cabinet ahead of the scheduled cabinet reshuffle this evening.
They submitted resignations citing health reasons, NDTV quoted sources as saying.
Gangwar, who held the position of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment resigned from his post early this morning. When asked whether he has resigned from the post of Labour Minister, Gangwar answered in the affirmative. “Yes I have resigned,” he told PTI.
He, however, said he is not aware of what his new role in the government will be.
Pokhriyal, however, did not comment on the development so far.
In a first revamp of the Modi-led cabinet in his second term, the Prime Minister is expected to bring in young faces and give representation to various social groups and regions in the reshuffle.
Over 10 ministerial probables met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence.
Those meeting Modi included BJP’s Narayan Rane, Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje, Sunita Duggal, Meenakshi Lekhi, Bharati Pawar, Shantanu Thakur and Kapil Patil, JD(U)’s R C P Singh, LJP’s Pashupati Paras and Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel.
Some ministers of state, including G Kishan Reddy, Parshottam Rupala and Anurag Thakur, were also there, and they may be elevated, sources said. BJP president J P Nadda is also there.
The expansion exercise is scheduled to be held at 6 pm at Rashtrapati Bhawan.