Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee today ruled out the possibility of holding general elections earlier and hinted at a Cabinet reshuffle soon. ‘‘Lok Sabha ko bhang karne ka koi prastav nahi hain aur mantri mandal punargathan ki ghoshna shighra hogi,’’ he said at Amausi airport after flagging off the Lucknow-Jeddah A-I flight. He dodged all queries related to the murder of Madhumita Shukla, who allegedly had links with sacked BSP minister Amar Mani Tripathi, and said he was satisfied with the way the case was being handled. ‘‘No comments on the issue and I prefer to keep mum,’’ he said. During the two-day stay in his parliamentary constituency, the PM has laid the foundation of projects worth Rs 1,000 crore. Honouring litterateurs at a function organised by the Hindi Sansthan, he said: ‘‘It is true that only 2 to 3 per cent people can speak or read English but the language has taken a lead. We are working to get an international status for Hindi by getting it included as an official language in the UN,’’ he said.
