Shiv Sena questions PM Modi over reshuffling Cabinet hours before he left for China

The Shiv Sena on Monday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the third reshuffle of the Union Cabinet, asserting there was no hurry for the mega event, just hours before he left for the BRICS Summit in China.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamna', the Shiv Sena said, "The BRICS Summit meet in China is a very important event for Prime Minister Modi; so conducting a reshuffle of his Union Cabinet was not necessary; especially hours before he left for the BRICS meet. This reshuffle totally looks like a distribution of cards to random ministers which has been conducted in a hurry. Even if this reshuffle was not carried out, do you think the Chinese President would not have met our Prime Minister?"

Further taking a jibe at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah, the article said that the former is playing his dirty politics.

"This Cabinet reshuffle was not just planned by Prime Minister Modi, but also the saffron party president Amit Shah as terming the last one before the General Elections of 2019. By doing this, they both are only playing their dirty politics in the system, which is so not accepted. The Cabinet can have a large number of people, but we will judge the Cabinet on its performance," the article added.

Yesterday, the third reshuffle of the Union Cabinet, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw the promotion of sincere and hardworking ministers, and the induction of new faces.

In two of the nine major changes in the Cabinet, Union Minister Piyush Goyal has been given the charge of Railway Ministry, while Nirmala Sitharaman has been assigned the charge of the Defence Ministry, making her only the second woman to hold the post since late Indira Gandhi.