Bhopal, June 30: The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh today axed two ministers on the ground of their advanced age, fuelling speculation that Najma Heptulla and Kalraj Mishra too might be dropped in the upcoming Union cabinet shuffle.

Minority affairs minister Najma is 76 while Mishra, who holds the micro, small and medium enterprises portfolio, turns 75 tomorrow.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely believed to hold 75 as the retirement age for politicians. The purported stand was reflected not just in his ministry appointments in 2014 but also in the selection of candidates for the general election, with the sole exceptions made for L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in view of their stature.

Some BJP-led state governments, however, continued with the odd over-75 veteran. But today's removal of the pugnacious Madhya Pradesh home minister Babulal Gaur, 86, and PWD minister Sartaj Singh, 76, seemed to imply a new enthusiasm to enforce the supposed age norm.

Party sources said that chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had hardly any role in the matter and that the nudge had come from the central leadership.

Gaur, a former chief minister with a reputation for truculence, tendered his resignation only after a show of defiance but Sartaj gave in tamely.

Gaur had been in the middle of his afternoon siesta when he was woken up by a call from BJP national general secretary Ram Lal, who advised him to resign.

A belligerent Gaur told The Telegraph: "Did they not know my age when they gave me an election ticket in 2013? Is my performance as minister below par? Do they not have any regard for my long service to the party since the Jana Sangh days?"

Eventually, BJP vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe visited Gaur and brought him round.

Gaur may have had a portent, though, during a chance meeting with BJP national president Amit Shah at Bhopal airport in September 2014. Asked his age, Gaur had promptly told Shah he was "only 84", triggering a smile and praise for his health.

But an uneasy Gaur kept asking senior journalists, soothsayers and close associates whether Shah's remark was an innocuous one or held a message for him.

Chouhan inducted nine new ministers, and promoted three ministers of state today.

Gaur, elected 10 times from Bhopal's Govindpura seat, fears being "dumped" into a state-level party margdarshak mandal (adviser panel), just as Advani and Joshi have been at the central level. Some believe he may be appointed a governor.

As for Kalraj, he might hope to escape the axe as he is from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. Najma, however, is from Bhopal.