Ravneet Singh Bittu resigns as Union Minister of State for Railways — here's why
Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu resigned from the Union Council of Ministers on Friday, following which President
Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu resigned from the Union Council of Ministers on Friday, following which President Droupadi Murmu accepted his resignation with immediate effect, according to an official statement. The statement mentioned the resignation was accepted by the President on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. President Murmu is currently on a three-nation foreign visit. “The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of Shri Ravneet Singh from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect, under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution of India," the statement said. Bittu, who had been serving in the Union Council of Ministers since 2024, is expected to concentrate on the Punjab Assembly elections scheduled for next year, according to a PTI report.
His Rajya Sabha term had also concluded in June. Who is Ravneet Singh Bittu? Ravneet Singh Bittu, 50, the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2024 after leaving the Congress and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections the same year. He was later nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan to serve the remainder of the term left vacant by Congress leader KC Venugopal. Bittu was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Anandpur Sahib on a Congress ticket in the 2009 general election. He later represented Ludhiana in the Lok Sabha after winning the 2014 and 2019 general elections. In 2021, he served as the Congress party's leader in the Lok Sabha.
He also contested the 2017 Punjab Assembly election from Jalalabad but was defeated by Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal. Also Read | Punjab introduces AI as mainstream subject in schools from Class 1 to 12 In January 2021, Bittu was assaulted during a Jan Sansad programme at the Singhu border. Two years later, in 2023, he received a bomb threat through a WhatsApp call. Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he contested the Ludhiana seat on a BJP ticket but lost to Congress candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Punjab assembly elections 2027 The BJP is expected to contest the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections independently, putting to rest speculation about a possible alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), as per ANI.
During his visit to Punjab earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the Akali Dal, accusing the party of pursuing its "selfish interests" and saying it cared "nothing for the people of Punjab." In the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered a landslide victory by winning 92 of the state's 117 seats, while the BJP managed to secure only two seats.
The BriefWire