Speculations are rife particularly over who would be removed from his team after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday stated that a reshuffle in his Ministry is imminent.
The changes in the Ministry would be effected “very shortly”, Patnaik told reporters. “Have patience” to see what’s going to happen, he added.
The reshuffle may take place before Patnaik leaves for New Delhi in the evening of May 7 to attend the Centre-called meeting of Maoist-affected States’ Chief Ministers on May 8 or just after he returns to Bhubaneswar a day after. Meanwhile, Governor SC Jamir, who has to swear the new entrants into the Ministry, is scheduled to return here from his vacation on May 6.
Many feel most of the young Ministers are likely to be dislodged on the line of a ‘Kamraj Plan’ to be involved in BJD organisational work at the field level. They include Debi Prasad Mishra, Sanjay Dasburma, Arun Kumar Sahu, Pranab Prakash Das and Puspendra Singh Deo.
Patnaik may also exclude some Ministers in view of the ruling party’s debacle in the last panchayat elections in their constituencies. Debi Prasad Mishra (Cuttack district) and Puspendra Singh Deo (Kalahandi) also come under this category. The other such Ministers are lal Bihari Himirika (Rayagada), Snehangini Chhuria (Bargarh) and Sudam Marandi (Mayurbhanj).Besides, the Chief Minister is likely to show the door to some Ministers who are under the shadow of corruption.
The fate of Damodar Rout as a Minister is also under speculation for his unending holier-than-though utterances that put the Government and the party in embarrassment.
There are speculations too that Assembly Speaker Niranjan Pujari and Deputy Speaker Sanand Marandi may be inducted into the Ministry. Pujari may be replaced by a senior Cabinet-rank Minister as Speaker and Marandi by an MlA as Deputy Speaker. According to political observers, there is no substance in the rumours that the reshaped Ministry would have a preponderance of elderly persons. The reshuffled team would have a good mixture of old and young ones, they feel.