New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday accepted the resignations of TDP ministers from the Modi government, a day after they stepped down in protest against the Centre's failure to give Andhra Pradesh a special status category.
"The President, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati and Y.S. Chowdary from the union council of ministers with immediate effect," a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said.
The President also directed that the work of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, held by Raju, will now be looked after by the Prime Minister. Chowdary was the Minister of State for Science and Technology.
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New Delhi (PTI): The much-awaited decision about the new chief minister of Delhi will be made in the BJP legislature party meeting to be held at the party's Delhi unit office on Wednesday evening.
The BJP has come to power after 26 years, defeating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls.
Preparations were complete for the legislature party meeting that is expected to begin around 7 pm at Delhi BJP office, the party leaders said.
The 48 BJP MLAs will choose the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly who will become the chief minister.
The meeting will be held in the presence of BJP's central observers, whose names are yet to be declared. The new chief minister after being chosen by the party MLAs will meet Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena at the Raj Niwas to stake claim to power.
Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing for a grand swearing-in ceremony of the new government at Ramleela Ground on Thursday afternoon.
Around 50,000 people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues and the chief minister of NDA ruled states among other guests, will attend the ceremony.
The names doing the rounds for the new chief minister include Parvesh Verma, who defeated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal; former Delhi BJP presidents Vijender Gupta and Satish Upadhyay; and other leaders such as Pawan Sharma, Ashish Sood, Rekha Gupta and Shikha Rai.
The names of Ravinder Indraj Singh, the MLA from Bawana (SC) seat, and Kailash Gangwal, who won the Madipur (SC) seat for the BJP for the first time, are also being discussed.
Many within the party believe that the BJP leadership could choose a "dark horse" as Delhi's next chief minister, a strategy the party opted for in Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.