Bhubaneswar (Odisha): As many as 21 ministers including five women took oath during the latest cabinet reshuffle of the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD Government on Sunday. The move seemingly aimed at the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections comes a day after all the 20 ministers of the Odisha Government resigned on Saturday. Several new faces were also inducted in the council of ministers.
Among the 21 newly inducted ministers, 13 have been given cabinet berths while eight are ministers of state. Five women MLAs including three Cabinet Ministers also took oath on Sunday. The newly sworn-in woman Cabinet Ministers include Pramila Mallik, Usha Devi, and Tukuni Sahu.
The other Cabinet Ministers are Jagannath Saraka, Niranjan Pujari, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Prafulla Kumar Mallik, Pratap Keshari Deb and Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak. Besides, Pradip Kumar Amat, Naba Kisore Das, Ashok Chandra Panda and Rajendra Dholakia were also administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Ganeshi Lal at the ceremony.
Also read:Cabinet reshuffle in Odisha: All ministers of Naveen Patnaik govt, assembly speaker resign
MLAs who were sworn-in as Minister of State (Independent charge) include Samir Ranjan Dash, Aswini Kumar Patra, Pritiranjan Gharai, Srikanta Sahu, Tusharkanti Behera, Rohit Pujari, Rita Sahu and Basanti Hembram. According to sources some of the Ministers who were dropped during the reshuffle despite performing well are likely to be given key organizational responsibilities in the party in view of the next elections.
The Naveen Patnaik government has completed three years of its fifth consecutive term on May 29. (with Agency inputs)
