Cabinet rejig, Cong shaky

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, AUG 8: Taking a jibe at the recent cabinet reshuffling by the chief minister Mukul Sangma, BJP national spokesman Nalin Kohli said it is an indication that things are “shaky” within the ruling Congress party.

“If a cabinet reshuffle is required to be done with only six months to the election, it speaks volumes about how shaky things must be within the Congress party,” Kohli told reporters at the sidelines of a meeting chaired by the BJP national general secretary (organization) Ramlal here.

Two Congress legislators – Prestone Tynsong and Sniawbhalang Dhar – were recently dropped as cabinet ministers, an exercise seen as an attempt to prevent MLAs from joining other political parties ahead of the crucial 2018 assembly elections.

Earlier, reports even suggested that Tynsong and Dhar would leave the Congress and likely to join the National People’s Party (NPP).

Tynsong and Dhar were replaced by former parliamentary secretaries – Celestine Lyngdoh and Comingone Ymbon. While Lyngdoh took over as new minister in-charge of PHE, Ymbon is now looking after community and rural development department.

Further ridiculing the exercise, Kohli said, “Six months before the elections, a reshuffle? This is the time that you should be clear. Reorganizing in six months? After three months there will be a clear model code of conduct…so for three months you need to do a reshuffle.”

Asked, the BJP leader however denied that the dropped ministers had met the party and said, “They haven’t met me but they are welcome to do so.”

Claiming that many sitting legislators are in touch with the BJP, Kohli said that he had met them on multiple occasions. When asked how many from the ruling Congress, he however refused to disclose by saying “But I am not getting into any details”.

Reacting to a query, the Kohli said that the BJP need not topple the Mukul-led Congress government as it is written on the walls that the Congress will collapse on its own. “They are doing such a great job internally why should we interfere,” he said while adding the internal dynamics of a government shows what is the state of that government.