Odisha Cabinet Reshuffle: Oath ceremony of new ministers tomorrow

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Cabinet is all set for a reshuffle on Monday. The oath taking ceremony of new ministers is likely to take place at 9.30 AM on Monday at the Convention Centre of the Lok Seva Bhawan.

Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal will administer the oath and office of secrecy to the new ministers.

Prof Lal, who was scheduled to return from his native place in Haryana on Monday, has cut short his visit. He will be reaching Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

It is pertinent to mention here that Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha, School & Mass Education Minister and Labour Minister Srikanta Sahu resigned from their posts last week.

Revenue and Disaster Management Department Pramila Mallick has been allocated the additional charge of the School & Mass Education and Labour Departments.

Likewise, Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari has been given the additional charge of the Health Department after the murder of Naba Das.

Therefore, now it is said that three MLAs will get the Ministers’ posts while a senior legislator will be appointed as the speaker of the house.

After the resignation of Polasara MLA Srikanta Sahu from his minister post, discussion are going on that BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik may give a Minister post to one of the MLAs from the south Odisha. Bikram Keshari Arukha is expected to get it. However, Kabisuryanagar MLA Latika Pradhan and Berhampur MLA Bikram Panda are in the race.

On the other hand, slain Naba Das from the Western Odisha was the Health Minister and as the State ruling party has been winning the by-elections in the Western Odisha, it is assumed that the BJD president may reward one of the MLAs of the Western Odisha. Buzz is also underway that Naba’s daughter Deepali Das, who got a historic win, may be given one of the fortpolios.

As Naveen Patnaik is giving priority to the women, Deepali Das and Latika Pradhan are likely to get the minister posts.

On the other hand, Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari is in the front of the race for the State assembly speaker’s post. Earlier, he was the speaker of the house between 2014 and 2017. However, if the seniority of the MLA is considered, MLAs Debi Prasad Mishra and Amar Prasad Satpathy are the strong contenders.