Rohit Pujari, a senior BJD leader from western Odisha, has been dropped from the Odisha Government’s ministry. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recommended Odisha Governor to exclude Pujari from the state cabinet.
Sources said that Rohit Pujari has been excluded owing to the alleged poor performance of the Higher Education Department which was reviewed by the CM himself.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pujari was included in CM Naveen’s cabinet in June last year.
A detailed review of all the departments was conducted and the performance of the higher education department was found not satisfactory. It is also being speculated that there could be some other reasons behind Pujari’s exclusion.
It is also worth mentioning that Pujari had recently courted controversy for his remarks on senior leaders. He had reportedly stated that people above 60 years of age should retire from politics Pujari then had said that the leaders, who are above 60 years, should not be made MLA as they will not be able to give proper time to the constituency.
After dropping of Pujari, food and civil supplies minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak has been given additional charge of the Higher Education department.
In his reaction, Rohit Pujari said, “The CM entrusted me with various duties. He (Naveen Patnaik) had appointed me as the district present, chairman of lift irrigation and gave MLA ticket twice and also made me deputy chief whip. I have nothing to say and maybe the CM was not satisfied with my efforts.”
According to Pujari, "The CM may have had a lot of expectations which I may have failed to meet despite giving my best efforts. Whatever role is given to me, I will try to do my best. I have given my best efforts for the department."
Pujari, however, did not comment when asked whether his exclusion was over his recent remark on senior leaders.