Tarana Halim, Nurul Islam BSc get call amid rumours of Cabinet shakeup

Ruling Awami League MP Tarana Halim and former lawmaker Nurul Islam BSc have been called up to take oath as ministers amid swirling rumours of a Cabinet shakeup.

There has been no official word from the government on the expansion of the council of ministers or reshuffle.

 

But these two ruling party leaders said the Cabinet secretary rang them up to tell them to be ready until Tuesday evening.

 

Chittagong leader BSc told bdnews24.com. “The Cabinet secretary telephoned me. He told me to get ready (for Tuesday).”

 

“He only said to be ready,” he said when asked what was the exact communication.

 

Tarana Halim said: “I got very nervous after getting the call, so I couldn’t ask the Cabinet secretary why he phoned. But he told me to be ready until 3 in the afternoon.

 

“He said he would phone me up to get the address of the house.”

 

Murmurs of a Cabinet shakeup were fuelled by the Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam’s removal from the LGRD ministry.

 

Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan gave no answer to curious journalists after Monday’s regular Cabinet meeting.

 

“You will know once the reshuffle is done. We will send a press release as early as possible. You can find that on our website.”

This will have been the first Cabinet reshuffle after Sheikh Hasina formed government for a second consecutive time last year.

Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain was given charge of the LGRD ministry after Ashraf’s axing last week.

Last year, telecoms minister Abdul Latif Siddique was dropped from the Cabinet for his controversial remark on Hajj. He has subsequently been expelled from the Awami League.