Union minister J P Nadda on Tuesday said the Vice President's office was informed that he and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju would not attend a BAC meeting convened by Jagdeep Dhankhar last evening, shortly before he resigned from the post.
Nadda's remarks came after Congress leader Jairam Ramesh raised questions over the absence of the leader of the Rajya Sabha and Rijiju at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC).
"The Vice President's office was intimated about our inability to attend the meeting," said Nadda, the Union health minister and Bharatiya Janata Party president, when asked about Ramesh's claims.
He was speaking to reporters after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with senior ministers, including Nadda, Rijiju, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
Dhankhar resigned on Monday evening, citing medical reasons. He sent his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu and said he was stepping down with immediate effect.
The Congress on Tuesday claimed the reasons behind Dhankhar's resignation are "far deeper" than health issues cited by him.
Ramesh claimed Dhankhar "took umbrage" as Nadda and Rijiju skipped the BAC meeting.