How BJP hopes to encash Najma Heptulla's resignation in UP polls

Veteran politician Najma Heptulla resigning on July 12 as Union minority affairs minister does not come as a surprise. She was expected to resign from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet when the last reshuffle took place on July 6. The reason being the senior politician is aged 76, a year more than the upper limit fixed by Modi to remain a minister.

Minister of state for minority affairs - Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi - has been elevated to take independent charge of the ministry.

Also read: Cabinet reshuffle: UP polls to play on Modi's mind

Modi has taken a wise decision by not dropping Heptulla during the reshuffle. It would have been rude to do so then. He has accorded her due respect by taking the same decision about a week later.

Born on April 13, 1940, Heptulla is already 76. It was on the basis of this criterion that senior leaders such as LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Shanta Kumar were kept away from Modi's cabinet during the swearing-in ceremony of Modi's council of ministers which took place on May 26, 2014.

While Advani and Joshi were accommodated by creating a "Margdarshak Mandal" and making them its members, Heptulla in most likelihood will be assigned a gubernatorial post. A governor's post may just be a transitional phase. She may be NDA's candidate for the vice-president's election to be held in mid-2017.

Also read: Modi's cabinet reshuffle will not be major

It was also expected that besides Heptulla, micro, small and medium enterprises minister Kalraj Mishra will also be dropped from Modi's cabinet. He turned 75 on July 1. However, he has been retained for now.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in early 2017 seems to be on top of the BJP's mind in elevating Naqvi and retaining Mishra. Both hail from UP. The BJP will hope to garner the support of Muslims - who constitute a decisive 19 per cent of the state's population - through Naqvi.

Mishra, on the other hand, is quite popular in eastern UP and holds considerable command over the 13 per cent Brahmin votes. By dropping Mishra at this juncture, the BJP would have earned the wrath of the Brahmins, which could have been counter-productive for the party.