Moga, Punjab (June 24, 2014): According to various media reports, all four ministers of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in the Punjab government submitted their resignations to the party to enable a reshuffle. Contrary to the media reports, BJP Punjab president Kamal Sharma while talking to a news channel claimed that no minister was asked to resign. One of the BJP ministers, health and family welfare minister Surjeet Kumar Jiani also claimed that neither he was asked to resign nor he submitted his resignation.
After a news agency released a report of resignations of BJP minister in the afternoon, a shock wave was witnessed in the state politics today.
As per reported by the Hindustan Times with the reference of party sources, the ministers who submitted their resignations are forests and labour minister Chunni Lal Bhagat, industries and commerce minister Madan Mohan Mittal, local government minister Anil Joshi and health and family welfare minister Surjit Kumar Jayani.
“The resignations have been submitted to enable the BJP leadership to reshuffle the ministers,” the report quoted a BJP leader told.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is part of the Punjab government as an alliance partner of the Shiromani Akali Dal. The alliance has been in power in the state since 2007.
The resignations came ahead of a meeting between Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is the patron of the Akali Dal, and BJP in-charge for Punjab Shanta Kumar.
The alliance had won a total of six seats out of 13 in the recent Lok Sabha polls. This was seen as a debacle for the ruling alliance as the BJP won more seats in neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
The BJP and Akali Dal leaders have, in subdued tones, been blaming each other for the poor showing of the alliance in the recent Lok Sabha polls.