BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu has tendered his resignation from the post of Union Minister of State for Railway and Food Processing Industries on Friday.
Further, President of India Droupadi Murmu has accepted his resignation. The resignation comes amid reports of Bittu preparing for the Punjab polls due next year.
The Minister had left the Indian National congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in March 2024, ahead of the general elections. The former MP's switch had come as a shock even to his family members.
Post that, Bittu has contested the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket, losing to Congress candidate Amarinder Singh Raja Warring.
Earlier, Home Minister Amit Shah had campaigned Bittu as an important Sikh face for the BJP during the election rallies 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 he won from Ludhiana in 2014 and 2019.
Bittu has also served as Congress' leader and whip in the Lok Sabha, through his tenure in the party. A whip's job is to ensure that party members attend critical voting sessions and vote in alignment with the party's official stance.
In Punjab, Sikhs make up of nearly 58% of the population, forming the largest segment of voters; followed by Hindus at 39% with over one crore people subscribing to Hinduism in the state, making it the second-largest religious community.
The third segment of voters in Punjab is the Dalit community, at nearly 32% t of the population, followed by OBC, estimated at around 16%.
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