Reshuffle to improve poll performance, says Pawar

A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar asked 20 of his ministers in the state government to hand him their resignations, he said the reshuffle in their team of ministers and the party — which would include bringing in new faces — was aimed at improving their chan-ces in next year’s Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar asked 20 of his ministers in the state government to hand him their resignations, he said the reshuffle in their team of ministers and the party — which would include bringing in new faces — was aimed at improving their chan-ces in next year’s Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

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Speaking in Pune on Satur-day, the Union agriculture minister said: “There have been [survey] reports that the party’s performance would be poor in the polls. Even if one does not agree with the reports, any sensitive party has to take corrective steps.”

He, however, insisted that the ministers resigned on their own and the exercise was not an attempt to improve the party’s image. “All my colleagues willfully offered to resign to be available for party work. They submitted their resignations in an envelope that I have not opened yet. There is no question of asking for resignations from anyone,” said Pawar.

He added that the decision on a reshuffle will be taken on June 11.

The move has been seen by many as part of Pawar's efforts to revive the NCP's image, which has taken a beating in the recent past due to a series of corruption allegations against the party's ministers.