BJP says Cabinet reshuffle 'damp squib'

New Delhi, July 12 (PTI) Bharatiya Janata Party
Tuesday described the Cabinet reshuffle as a "damp squib" and
insisted that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has failed
to reassure the nation and dispel the "gloom shadowing the UPA
government".
"The Prime Minister's much acclaimed and awaited
reshuffle has proven to be a damp squib. It is a futile
exercise which inspires none and in no way dispels the gloom
shadowing the embattled UPA government," BJP spokesperson
Rajiv Pratap Rudy told PTI.
Singh Tuesday dropped five ministers and inducted 13
new faces into his Council of Ministers. However, Home
Minister P Chidambaram and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal have
been left untouched. BJP had been demanding their removal.
"This is a wasted exercise which unreservedly attests
that we have a dysfunctional government that is destined to
sink. Apparently, the Prime Minister has failed to reassure
the nation once again," Rudy said.
While there has been no change in the top four Cabinet
posts of Home, Finance, Defence and External Affairs,
ministries like Law, Rural Development, Corporate Affairs and
Environment have new incumbents.
The opposition was expecting big changes in the Cabinet
after it had cornered the government over the last several
months on issues like corruption, price rise and bad
governance.