President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday announced that Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has been assigned the additional charge of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation. The announcement was made based on advice from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kovind tweeted.

The development follows the resignination of Telugu Desam Party Ministers Ashok Gajapathi Raju and YS Chowdary from the Union Cabinet. Chowdary was the minister of state for science and technology and earth sciences, while Raju was in charge of the civil aviation ministry.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu announced the decision to withdraw the two leaders from the Union Cabinet hours after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said on Wednesday that the state could only get a “special package”, not special category status.