President Pratibha Patil today accepted the resignation of Union Minister Virbhadra Singh who stepped down from his post following framing of corruption charges against him by a Himachal Pradesh court.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said, the President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of Virbhadra Singh from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect.

78-year-old Singh was Minister for Small, Micro and Medium Industries. The statement said the President has directed that Vilasrao Deshmukh, who is Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences, shall be assigned the additional charge of the Cabinet portfolio held by Singh.