Major reshuffle in Naveen Patnaik’s cabinet.
Major reshuffle in Naveen Patnaik’s cabinet.
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik is preparing to reshuffle the cabinet on Monday after the Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly and two ministers stepped down. As per media reports, Patnaik is preparing to reshuffle the cabinet for the second time during his fifth term as the CM of the state. Also, the new ministers are expected to take oath at the Lok Seva Bhawan.
Preparations are on to take oath of new ministers. Simultaneously, Governor Ganeshi Lal is currently on a tour of his home state Haryana and is expected to return on Monday. However, he was requested by the state authorities to return to the state only on Sunday. Last week itself, School and Mass Education Minister Sameer Ranjan Dash and Labor Minister Shrikant Sahu resigned from their posts. After the death of Health Minister Naba Kishore Das in January, his post also remains vacant. No person has been appointed to that post. Preparations have been expedited for the swearing-in ceremony.
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In June last year too, CM Naveen Patnaik had reshuffled his cabinet. Presently there are only 19 ministers instead of 22 ministers in the Council of Ministers of Odisha. The Chief Minister is also included in this. Prafulla Samal, Debi Prasad Mishra, Amar Prasad Satpathy and Badri Narayan Patra are in the race for the post of Speaker in Andhra Pradesh. Dipali Das, the newly elected Biju Janata Dal MLA and daughter of late Odisha minister Naba Kishore Das, won the bypoll from Jharsuguda seat. His chances of joining this cabinet are less visible.
