Naveen brings in 11 new ministers in biggest reshuffle

Bhubaneswar: Finally all the speculations came to an end after CM Naveen Patnaik cleared the names of 11 new leaders of BJD who were inducted into the State cabinet in what was the biggest reshuffle in the history of the party’s rule.

While 6 have been given cabinet rank, 5 were inducted as Ministers of State.

Niranjan Pujari who resigned as speaker of Odisha Assembly yesterday was brought into the ministry as a cabinet minister along with Bhandaripokhari MLA Prafulla Samal, Surya Narayan Patro, Mahanga MLA Pratap Jena, Puri MLA Maheswar Mohanty and Jayadev MLA Sasibhushan Behera.

Karanjia MLA Bijay Nayak, Bhatli MLA Sushant Singh, Parjang MLA Nrusingha Sahoo, Bhograi MLA and party chief whip Anant Das and Cuttack Sadar MLA Chandrasarathi Behera were given Minister of State ranks in the Naveen cabinet.

Also Read: Nine ministers resign from Naveen cabinet

Former Minister and Mahanga MLA Pratap Jena after his induction into the team said, “I am grateful to chief minister Naveen Patnaik for reposing faith on me.”

As Naveen emphasized on veterans after facing defeat in several districts in the panchayat poll, he picked party veteran and Bhandaripokhari MLA Prafulla Samal in his new team. "I would try to stand up to the expectation of the chief minister and perform my duty with full integrity," said Samal.

Ministers Prafulla Mallick, Ramesh Majhi were also promoted to Cabinet rank.

According to sources, the oath taking ceremony is scheduled to be held tomorrow at 9.10 AM at the Raj Bhawan.