NEW DELHI, Sept 6 � Ruling out early retirement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today rejected suggestions of a �disconnect� between his government and the Congress party while making it clear that he would not ask every Cabinet colleague to �shut up�, reports PTI.
A characteristically gentle but firm Prime Minister made it clear that there was no �drift� in the government. �Allowing people to express their views is not necessarily a sign of drift,� he said.
In an 80-minute interaction with a group of editors at his official residence here, Singh indicated that he would �look at� options of a Cabinet reshuffle prior to the next Parliament session beginning November 7. �I would like to reduce the average age of my Cabinet.�
The Prime Minister�s remarks came in the backdrop of perceptions in the media and political circles that there was a disconnect between him and the Congress and criticism that his ministers were openly airing their differences with each other.
He saw nothing wrong in the expression of different points of view by his Ministers and Congress functionaries because India was a democracy. Moreover, the Congress was a mass movement in which people express their views, he said.
Expression of differing view points was �not necessarily a bad thing�. It was necessary, however, that the Cabinet and the government functioned with a �certain degree of cohesion�, Singh said.
He went on to underline that his Cabinet functioned with a �much greater degree of cohesion� than even the first Cabinet headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.
There was almost daily exchange of letters between Nehru and his deputy Sardar Patel. There were differences between Indira Gandhi and her deputy Morarji Desai, he pointed out.
During Mrs. Gandhi�s time a group of �Young Turks� led by Chandrashekhar openly constituted a dissident group, the Prime Minister said during the interaction that turned into a virtual press conference covering major domestic political issues, economy and foreign policy.
