After a week of deliberations on a cabinet reshuffle in Punjab,in which the state BJP was expected to replace two of its ministers,it has now been decided that no changes will be made in the cabinet before the Lok Sabha elections next year. It has been decided that there will be no change in the ministers for now, state BJP head Kamal Sharma told The Indian Express on Thursday. According to sources in the party,the matter came up for consideration in a recent meeting between Sharma and partys central leaders. At the meet,the BJP named two ministers who it felt needed to be replaced. However,it was argued that replacing the two ministers at this stage would have a negative impact on a part of the Dalit and a particular trader community votebanks of the party. Thus,it was decided that another look can be taken at the matter after the Lok Sabha elections. This is the second time in this year that there has been a talk of the BJP being keen on replacing its ministers. While the reason being given is non-performance,sources said that BJP ministers in various states are also being judged on the basis of their integrity. Reportedly,there is a lot of pressure on the party heads to weed out anyone who is likely to embarrass the BJP. Currently,there are four BJP ministers in the Punjab cabinet Chunni Lal Bhagat,Madan Mohan Mittal,Anil Joshi and Surjit Jayani. Two senior leaders and BJP MLAs Manoranjan Kalia and Ashwani Sharma have been waiting in the wings to get a chance to make it to the cabinet. In the meeting with the central leaders,no decision was taken on the final names that the party intends to propose for the chairmanship of various boards and corporations. The BJP has in its share over 10 positions in the boards and corporations as chairman and vice-chairman. The names doing the rounds include Harjit Singh Grewal,Vijay Sampla,Manjit Rai,Vinod Sharma and Neeraj Tayal. Top BJP leaders said that the names of a lot of senior functionaries was forwarded to the party top brass but no final decision could be taken and the entire exercise was postponed. Sources said this was done following major infighting in the BJP over the shortlisted names. In its kitty,the BJP has the chairmanship and vice-chairmanship of Punjab InfoTech,Water and Sewerage Board and Women and Child and Social Welfare Board among others.
