New Delhi: The Congress on January 31 sought to dismiss the recent reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers as a "meaningless" exercise lacking seriousness saying the government seemed to treat the ministry as a "transit lounge" where people come and go.

Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters, "We think the Cabinet reshuffle reflects complete chaos and confusion of both the government and the ruling party. There is obviously no seriousness about the exercise."

He said the government appears to have treated the ministry as a "transit lounge" wherein people like C P Thakur come and go.

"At times Thakur finds himself in the lounge and at times he disappears only to return. Shatrughan Sinha too had a shot at Health (ministry) but he was not good enough for it and so was shifted to Shipping Ministry. Perhaps, Shipping is not an important ministry for the government," he said.

"The Prime Minister rightly did not find his deputy L K Advani to preside over the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) as the Home Minister is a co-accused in the Ayodhya case," he said.

"Of course, it is good to shuffle the pack of cards so long you have some Aces or some Kings and Queens, but if twos and threes are coming, then it's only an attempt of black magic which fools people for some time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time," he said.

PTI