Amid talks of Ministry reshuffle, Odisha Assly Speaker resigns

Ayaskant Das Published On : May 5, 2017 at 7:26 PM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, May 5:

While Ministry reshuffle speculations gained flight with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s affirmative hint, Assembly Speaker Niranjan Pujari this evening tendered his resignation.

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Pujari tendered his resignation to Deputy Speaker Sanand Marandi.

“In order to get associated with my constituency, I have resigned,” the outgoing Speaker Niranjan Pujari told media.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister had hinted of possible Ministry reshuffle.

“Be patient. You will know about it very shortly,” Patnaik had told media persons this morning.

According to sources, Debi Prasad Mishra, Lal Bihari Himrika, Yogendra Behera, Snehangini Chhuria, Sudam Marandi, Pushpendra Singhdeo, Sanjay Das Burma, Pranab Prakash Das and Arun Sahu are likely to be dropped from the Ministry.

On the other hand, Sushant Singh, Amar Satpathy, Pratap Jena, Niranjan Pujari, Ranendra Pratap Swain and Surya Narayan Patro are likely to be inducted in the Ministry.

For Assembly Speaker’s post, Maheswar Mohanty and Pradip Amat’s names are doing the rounds.

Ministry rejig is likely to take place on Sunday, sources added.