New Delhi, July 12

 Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla and Minister of State for Heavy Industries G.M. Siddeshwara resigned from the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. President Pranab Mukherjee has accepted their resignations.

"The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of Najma A. Heptulla and G.M. Siddeshwara," a Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said.

Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was a junior minister under Heptulla, has been assigned the Independent charge of the ministry.

Babul Supriyo has been made Minister of State of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in place of Siddeshwara. Supriyo was relieved of the portfolios of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. 

The resignations and new appointments come a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshuffled and expanded his Council of Ministers by inducting 19 new ministers and elevating one to cabinet rank.