Odisha Cabinet reshuffled: 12 new faces, including 5 women in Naveen’s new team

Bhubaneswar: Effecting  major reshuffle, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik removed as many as 12 Ministers and inducted new faces in place of them to his Government.

The 12 Ministers, who have been dropped in the Cabinet rejig, include five powerful leaders holding important portfolios. They are Law and Panchayati Raj minister Pratap Jena, Higher Education Minister Arun Sahoo, Minister of State (Home) Dibya Shankar Mishra, Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera and Labour and Employees State Insurance Minister Sushanta Singh.

All 21 Ministers were sworn in at a special ceremony at Lok Seva Bhawan here today. Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Ministers–13 Cabinet Ministers and eight Minister of State (MoS).

As many as 12 new faces, including five women, have been inducted to Naveen’s revamped team. They are:  

• Nuapada MLA Rajendra Dholakia
• Aul MLA Pratap Keshari Deb
• Binjharpur MLA Pramila Mallik
• Rairakhol MLA Rohit Pujari
• Jaleswar MLA Aswini Kumar Patra
• Mahakalpada MLA Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak
• Polasara MLA Srikanta Sahu
• Chikiti MLA Usha Devi
• Sukinda MLA Pritiranjan Ghadai
• Bijepur MLA Rita Sahu
• Boudh MLA Pradip Kumar Amat
• Karanjia MLA Basanti Hembram

Sources said portfolios are likely to be be allotted to the new Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State (MoS) later in the day.

Earlier yesterday, all Ministers were asked to resign from their respective posts, paving way for the new team. Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro also tendered his resignation, though his family claimed that he resigned on health grounds.

Also Read: Surjya Patro resigned as Assembly Speaker over kidney ailments: Family

The reshuffle comes at a time when the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD Government completed three years of its fifth term in office on May 29.