NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu on Friday accepted the resignation of Union minister of state for railways and food processing industries Ravneet Singh Bittu from the Union Council of Ministers with immediate effect, under Clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution of India.Bittu’s resignation came after his Rajya Sabha tenure, representing Rajasthan, ended on June 21. He had been a member of the Upper House from August 2024 to June 2026.In a post on X, Bittu wrote, “I express my heartfelt gratitude to Hon’ble President Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji and Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji for giving me the opportunity to serve the nation as Minister of State in the Government of India. It has been an honour to serve the people of India, especially my beloved Punjab. I remain committed to the ideals of service, nationalism, and the vision of a Viksit Bharat under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji. My journey of public service continues with renewed dedication.”A three-time former Congress MP from Punjab, Bittu was inducted as a minister of state in the Narendra Modi-led government in June 2024 despite losing the Lok Sabha election from Ludhiana to Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring by 20,942 votes.He had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in March 2024 ahead of the general elections after ending his long association with the Congress. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had projected Bittu as an important Sikh face for the BJP during the election campaign in Punjab.A grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who was assassinated in 1995, Bittu represented Anandpur Sahib in the Lok Sabha in 2009 before winning from Ludhiana in 2014 and 2019. During his political career in the Congress, he also served as the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha and as its whip in the Lower House.Bittu’s resignation comes as the BJP prepares for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, which the party is expected to contest on its own after ruling out an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal.The BJP, which won only two seats in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, is aiming to improve its performance in the state.
