BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and JD(U)'s Ram Chandra Prasad Singh resigned as Union ministers on Wednesday, a day before completion of their Rajya Sabha term. Naqvi was the minister in-charge of minority affairs in the Narendra Modi cabinet while Singh was the minister of state for steel.
Naqvi's resignation came amid rumours that the BJP is actively considering someone from the minority community as its candidate to the post of Vice President. He had met both Modi and BJP president J.P. Nadda earlier in the day.
With the resignation of Naqvi, who was also the Deputy Leader of Rajya Sabha, the BJP will have no Muslim MP among its 395 Members of Parliament.
Naqvi was among the three BJP Muslim MPs whose term ended during the recent round of Rajya Sabha polls to 57 seats across 15 states but none of them were renominated by the party.
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 an intense backlash over its former spokesperson Nupur Sharma's comments about Prophet Muhammad during a TV debate.
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.