New Delhi: Days after two BJP ministers quit the Mehbooba Mufti government in the aftermath of the Kathua rape case, the party, according to sources, has asked all its ministers to quit the government and prepare for a reshuffle in the ranks.
On Sunday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti accepted the resignations of Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga, who had participated in a rally supporting the accused in the rape and murder case of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in Kathua.
However, the latest resignations have nothing to do with the Kathua rape case and party sources clarified that the move does not mean that they are pulling out of the PDP-BJP government in the state.
According to the sources in the BJP, the decision was taken at a core group meeting, chaired by party Vice President Avinash Rai Khanna, at the party headquarters here.
"All BJP ministers have resigned ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle and this does not in any way mean the BJP has pulled out of the government," the source said.
Sources in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) told IANS the resignations of the BJP ministers is a prelude to the BJP's reconstitution of their part of the council of ministers without any bearing on the continuation of the coalition government in the state.
The BJP leaders said the party wants to bring in new faces in the cabinet and work for the people of the state.
The state can have a maximum of 25 ministers, including the chief minister, out of which 14 portfolios are with the PDP and the remaining with the BJP.
According to top state government sources, the reshuffle is likely to take place on April 20.
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