Bhubaneswar: People of Odisha have ranked Energy Minister Pranab Prakash Das as the No.1 minister in the state with huge thumbs-up. Das has left Excise Minister Damodar Rout and Housing and Urban Development Minister Puspendra Singh Deo, who were voted No 2 and 3 spots respectively, far behind.
While Das got 40% votes, Rout and Deo got only 10% and 9% votes respectively in the SMS voting conducted by OTV under its special programme "Suna Sarkar', which was aired today to mark the completion of two years of the fourth term of Naveen Patnaik government.
The voting was done through mobile SMS wherein people were asked to send a message to 56060.
One of the factors that must have influenced the voting going overwhelmingly in favour of Das as No 1 could be zero power cuts in the State this year. Though the State received less than normal ranifall last year leading to a fall in generation of hydroelectric power, the Energy Minister ensured there was no power cuts in the last two years through some adroit management of the power situation. His clean image and troubleshooting abilities must also have weighed in the minds of the voters.
Rout was selected as the second most preferred minister probably due to his clean image and no reports of liquor tragedy during the last two years. His department has also managed to generate more revenue in the last two years.
Deo got the No-3 spot and was chosen as one of the preferred ministers due to his success in implementing piped drinking water projects. Recently, the Housing and Urban Development department rolled out 100 drinking water projects in the State. His name has also not figured in any scams