Cabinet reshuffle: President accepts resignation of seven ministers

NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil today accepted the resignation of seven Ministers, including DMK's Dayanidhi Maran and Murli Deora of Congress, from the Union Council of Ministers, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Prime Minister today recommended to accept the resignations of Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran, Corporate Affairs Minister Murli Deora, Development of North Eastern Region Minister B K Handique, Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister Dr M S Gill, Tribal Affairs Minister Kanti Lal Bhuria, Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises A Sai Prathap and Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Arun S Yadav.

Rashtrapati Bhavan in a statement said, "The President of India, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of the members from the Council of Ministers, with immediate effect".