Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that there have been no discussions regarding a Cabinet reshuffle so far.
Speaking to media persons who met him here on Sunday, Mr. Chandy said the statements made by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V.M. Sudheeran, Minister for Home Ramesh Chennithala, and Minister for Rural Development K.C. Joseph in this regard were correct. Cabinet reshuffle can be effected only after discussions within the Congress party, followed by discussions with UDF partners and finally getting the concurrence of the Congress High Command on the issue.
These procedural formalities would have to be completed before making any statement on the issue of Cabinet reshuffle, Mr Chandy said. Recent media reports had dropped hints at a possible reshuffle of the Chandy Cabinet in the immediate future. It has also been reported that Speaker G. Karthikeyan had expressed his desire to step down.
Later, Mr Sudheeran, reacting to a question, had told the media that the Chief Minister had not discussed the issue of Cabinet reshuffle with him so far. The KPCC chief had also made it clear that he came to know about Mr Karthikeyan’s wish from the media only.
It was against this backdrop that the Chief Minister made it clear that there had been no discussions regarding cabinet reshuffle so far.
