Major Cabinet reshuffle likely soon
NAGPUR: Union minister of state for information & broadcasting Prakash Javadekar on Sunday launched a counter-offensive on the issue of Doordarshan broadcasting RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's annual Vijayadashmi speech live and dropped hints of a "major reshuffle" of the Cabinet in coming weeks.
Speaking on the controversy, Javadekar said he did not force DD to telecast the speech, but in fact lifted restrictions imposed by the previous government. "I wonder why the previous government had not allowed telecast of RSS chief's address all these years. Other channels were covering the speech but no one is complaining," Javadekar said.
Javadekar then suggested there would be a "major reshuffle" in the Cabinet either in October third week or in December around the winter session of Parliament.
The Union minister also said the government's crackdown on black money was sending shivers down the spine of Congress leaders and that the Supreme Court had lauded the steps taken by the Centre. "We're getting information from such countries and we will soon make the reports public," he said.
Asked about his ministerial colleague Nitin Gadkari's statement regarding the possibilities of post-poll alliance with either the Shiv Sena or NCP in Maharashtra, Javadekar, who also holds the charge of environment and forest, said he hadn't heard of it.
"All these talks are figment of imagination and there are no such plans as we are confident of winning 160 seats, which is way ahead of the majority mark of 145/288 seats," he told reporters.
On BJP's Maharashtra CM chief candidate, the minister said the party would announce the name after securing absolute majority. "We've many good and talented candidates to lead the state," he said.
Stating that environment conservation and development must go hand in hand, Javadekar said, "We have initiated a slew of measures in this regard aiming at zero defect and effect. We've made norms more stringent for cement industries which are the largest polluters. We're also installing round-the-clock sensors on all rivers, which would monitor pollution levels. As a first step, this has been planned in case of Ganga. The monitoring would be done by the Union ministry."
On Vidarbha demand, the minister said his party was committed to the creation of a separate state, but it would not be an issue during the forthcoming elections. "The allegations of BJP dividing Maharashtra are baseless. The statehood demand stems from the fact that Vidarbha was neglected over the years by the earlier government," Javadekar said.
On farmer suicides, Javadekar blamed the former agriculture minister Sharad Pawar for pursuing wrong policies. "We had demanded implementation of the MS Swaminathan formula for fixing MSP for agricultural crops which would have benefited the farmers. But, Pawar refused," Javadekar said.