Odisha cabinet reshuffle: 3 new ministers to take oath on Monday

The Odisha cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is set for a reshuffle on Monday with new ministers likely to get ministerial berths, officials said. The swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers will take place at 9.50 am at the Convention Center of Lok Seva Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. However, according to sources, this will be a minor reshuffle in CM Patnaik’s council of ministers before next year’s assembly and general elections.

Reshuffle in the cabinet has become necessary after the resignation of both the ministers. Apart from this, after the assassination of Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das in January, one more post is vacant.

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Earlier in the month, Odisha Assembly Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha and two cabinet ministers had resigned from their respective posts citing personal reasons, official sources said. Soon after the Speaker sent his resignation, two cabinet ministers namely Sameer Ranjan Saish and Shrikant Sahoo also resigned.

Sameer Ranjan Sash was the Minister of State in the Ministry of School and Mass Education while Shrikant Sahu handled the Labor Ministry in the state. Sources said the leaders who resigned would be given organizational responsibilities in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ahead of the general elections next year.

It is noteworthy that Deepali Das, newly elected Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA and daughter of late Odisha minister Naba Kishore Das, took oath on May 15, the birthday of her late father. He won the Jharsuguda by-election by defeating BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathi. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has fielded Deepali from her father’s constituency.