New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah on Friday confirmed that a Cabinet reshuffle would take place, but did not say when. “We will do it. A date has not been decided yet,” Mr Shah replied when asked at the BJP headquarters here whether the party was considering a replacement for Mr Sarbanand Sonowal, who was sports and youth affairs minister at the Centre before taking oath as Assam Chief Minister.
Mr Shah has been entrusted with finalising the party’s list of candidates for the June 11 Rajya Sabha elections.
Presenting the government’s two-year report card, Mr Shah said the Centre had infused hope across all sectors with its “decisive” rule.
On Hyderabad Central University student Rohith Vemula committing suicide and the incidents at JNU, he said those who had raised them were “nowhere” now.
Shah refuses comments on temple issue
Speaking on the BJP-led NDA government’s two years in power, BJP president Amith Shah said that the Centre had struck a balance between reforms and public welfare, taken pro-poor and pro-farmer initiatives and employment measures and had boosted the economy.
However, Mr Shah steered clear of issues involving party ideology, including the construction of a Ram mandir in Ayodhya and the uniform civil code.
To a question on Sangh Parivar affiliates like the VHP and Bajrang Dal raising the pitch of their demands for the construction of a Ram temple, Mr Shah said, “These (ideological issues) are part of our manifesto, and if you read it you will find that it is mentioned there as to how we intend to work on them.”
He was silent about the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in UP. To a question on the controversy over the Bajrang Dal training camp in UP, Mr Shah said the state government should take action if it found anything unlawful.
The BJP president also attacked the Congress, alleging that “scams, scandals and policy paralysis” were prevalent during 10 years of UPA rule and accusing the UPA government of leaving behind an “empty treasury”.
Referring to the first NDA government, headed by Atal Behari Vajpayee, he said the nation’s development journey, which started then, seemed to have come to a halt under the UPA government.
When asked whether the BJP expects the AIADMK to support the government on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill after campaigning aggressively against chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu, Mr Shah appealed to all political parties to support pro-people schemes and legislation.
He also clarified that the BJP’s struggle against the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal would continue and the decision to send finance minister Arun Jaitley to attend her swearing-in function should not be seen as a sign that the party was reaching out to the Trinamul.
