Cabinet reshuffle in Odisha: All ministers of Naveen Patnaik govt, assembly speaker resign

Since the Chief Minister is scheduled to go on a foreign trip from June 20, it is perceived that he wants to revamp his ministry before his departure.

Bhubaneswar: All ministers in the Odisha cabinet as well as Assembly Speaker Surjya Narayana Patro have resigned with the new cabinet set to take oath on Sunday noon.

This comes a day after the ruling Biju Janta Dal (BJD) in Odisha registered a landslide victory in the Brajrajnagar assembly by-poll with its candidate Alaka Mohanty winning by a margin of 66,122 votes, pushing the opposition BJP to the third position for the first time since 2019.

The BJD also pulled off a victory winning all the three Rajya Sabha seats unopposed. The three BJD candidates who made it to the Rajya Sabha are Sulata Deo, Manas Ranjan Mangaraj and Sasmit Patra. Patra was re-nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

According to well-placed sources, an instruction was issued from Chief Minister’s office to the ministers to submit their resignations to the Chief Minister immediately. The new ministers are scheduled to be administered oath by Governor Ganeshi Lal Raj Bhawan on Sunday at around 11.45 am. However, there has no confirmation on assignment of portfolios to the new Cabinet Ministers during the oath-taking ceremony, sources added.

Since the Chief Minister is scheduled to go on a foreign trip from June 20, it is perceived that he wants to revamp his ministry before his departure. He is scheduled to visit Rome and Dubai, sources informed. Moreover, the Budget session of the Assembly is also scheduled to start from June 22. The BJD government completed 3 years of its fifth term in office on May 29.