A day after the demise of Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, President Ram Nath Kovind has given the additional charge of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.

“The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed that Piyush Goyal, Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in addition to his existing portfolios,” said a communique from the President’s office.

Earlier, the Union Cabinet met and condoled the demise of Paswan, and also observed silence for two minutes in memory of the late leader.

The Cabinet approved a state funeral for Paswan and passed the following resolution: “The Cabinet expresses profound sorrow over the sad demise of Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. In his passing away, the nation has lost an eminent leader, a distinguished parliamentarian and an able administrator.”

Prez, PM and others pay tributes to Paswan

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation on Friday in paying tributes to Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who passed away last night, at the latter’s residence here.

Among those who paid floral tributes to the late Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) founder were BJP National President JP Nadda, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, and Giriraj Singh.

The Prime Minister consoled Ram Vilas Paswan’s wife and son Chirag Paswan.

Earlier, the body of Ram Vilas Paswan was brought to his official residence at 12 Janpath on Friday morning from the hospital where he breathed his last. Followers of Ram Vilas Paswan queued up to pay their last respects to their leader.

LJP chief and his son Chirag Paswan broke the news on Twitter on Thursday night. “Papa …. Now you are not in this world but I know you are always with me wherever you are. Miss you Papa,” he tweeted, with a throwback photo of his childhood where Ram Vilas Paswan is seen hugging him.

The body of the late Dalit leader would be kept at his Delhi residence till 2 pm, after which it would be flown to Patna for cremation on Saturday.

In Patna, Paswan’s body would be kept at the LJP office for people to pay tributes to their leader.

The Union Minister had undergone a heart surgery last Friday.