All Odisha ministers resign, cabinet revamp today

The reshuffle is seen as chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s bid to give a new look to his cabinet while getting rid of some ministers marred in controversy ahead of the assembly and general elections in 2024.

Updated on: Jun 5, 2022, 24:23:37 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Bhubaneswar: All 20 ministers of the Odisha government on Saturday submitted their resignation letters to chief minister Naveen Patnaik ahead of the state’s biggest ever cabinet reshuffle on Sunday, people familiar with the development said.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik asked all ministers to submit their resignation papers ahead of the state’s biggest ever Cabinet reshuffle on Sunday. (ANI)

The reshuffle is seen as Patnaik’s bid to give a new look to his cabinet while getting rid of some ministers marred in controversy ahead of the assembly and general elections in 2024.

State assembly’s speaker Surjya Patro was among those who resigned on Saturday. Later in the evening, officials in the chief minister’s office confirmed that 21 MLAs, including the speaker, nine of whom put in their papers earlier in the day, have been invited for the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday noon. Of the ministers resigned, seven are first-time ministers.

Among the big names dropped in the cabinet reshuffle are law and panchayati raj minister Pratap Jena, forest and environment minister Bikram Keshari Arukh, higher education minister Arun Sahoo and minister of state for home Dibya Shankar Mishra. Arukh would be the new assembly speaker.

Jena’s name came up in the murder case of a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and his associate in Cuttack district last year. Mishra was embroiled in a controversy last year over the murder of a woman school teacher in Kalahandi district. Arukh also found himself in the dock after the family members of an assistant forest conservator, who died under mysterious circumstances last year, pointed fingers at him alleging that he was putting pressure on police.

The rejig has come at a time when the BJD government completed three years of its fifth term in office on May 29.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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