Cabinet reshuffle a damp squib: BJP (Lead)
July 12th, 2011 - 10:23 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, July 12 (IANS) The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) described as a “damp squib” Tuesday’s cabinet reshuffle and said it showed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not interested in fighting corruption.
“The prime minister’s much-acclaimed and awaited reshuffle has proved to be a damp squib,” BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy told IANS.
“It is a futile exercise which inspires no one and no way dispels the gloom shadowing the embattled UPA government,” Rudy said.
The BJP leader also described it as a “wasted exercise” and said the government is “destined to sink”.
“It is a wasted exercise which unreservedly attests that we have a dysfunctional government which is destined to sink,” Rudy said.
He said that with Jairam Ramesh being moved out of the environment ministry was evidence of the corporate lobby winning its battle against him.
“The removal of Jairam marks the victory of vested corporate lobby. This action of the prime minister would deserve an honest clarification,” he added.
Party spokesperson MP, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain blamed the Congress government of protecting the corrupt.
“The reshuffle makes it evident that the prime minister is not interested in fighting corruption, we were expecting the prime minister will sideline the corrupt through this reshuffle,” Hussain told reporters.
“The finance minister at the time of the 2G scam, and present home minister (P. Chidambaram) who is as guilty as A. Raja (jailed former telecom minister), present human resource development minister (Kapil Sibal), who downplayed the loss of 2G scam they were allowed to continue in the cabinet,” he said.
“The prime minister has earlier admitted being helpless before coalition politics, this time he was helpless in front of Sonia Gandhi,” he added.
The reshuffle of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s council of ministers Tuesday saw changes in some major portfolios with Salman Khursheed taking over law and Dinesh Trivedi railways. New inductee Jayanthi Natarajan was appointed the environment minister.
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