Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today reshuffled his cabinet and inducted 10 fresh faces while elevating two ministers of state to cabinet rank.
Ten Odisha ministers had resigned on Saturday to pave the way for the CM to revamp his cabinet.
This is the first time that Patnaik has reshuffled his three-year-old ministry. The ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor SC Jamir in presence of the CM and other senior ministers at Raj Bhavan.
While 10 new ministers are inducted in the council of ministers, two ministers of state – Prafulla Mallick and Ramesh Chandra Majhi are elevated to cabinet rank.
Among the new faces, S N Patro, Niranjan Pujari, Pratap Jena, Maheswar Mohanty, Sashi Bhusan Behera and Prafulla Samal are the Cabinet Ministers while Nrushingha Sahu, Anant Das, Chandra Sarathi Behera and Sushant Singh are the Ministers of State (MoS).
Sushant Singh, Nrushingha Sahu, Anant Das and Chandra Sarathi Behera and Sashi Bhusan Behera are first time ministers.
“Six new Cabinet Ministers and four MoS were sworn in today. Besides, two MoS were elevated to the rank of Cabinet Ministers,” Patnaik said.
In the first reshuffle effected in his government since 2014, the CM has brought back experienced leaders like S N Patro, Prafulla Samal, Maheswar Mohanty, Pratap Jena Niranjan Pujari into the ministry.
Ten ministers – Pradip Kumar Amat, Debi Prasad Mishra, Lal Behari Himirika, Jogendra Behera, Pushpendra Singhdeo, Arun Kumar Sahoo, Sanjay Dasburma, Sudam Marndi, Pranab Prakash Das and Pradeep Panigrahi had resigned on Saturday paving way for the reshuffle.
Pradip Kumar Amat, who had resigned yesterday as Finance and Health Minister, is tipped to be appointed as the Speaker of the Odisha Assembly.
Niranjan Pujari, who resigned as Speaker on April 5, took oath as Cabinet Minister.
Post Your Comments