In an expected development following the Brajarajnagar Assembly by-election, all 20 members of the Naveen Patnaik’s Council of Ministers were asked to submit their resignations on Saturday for the sake of formation of a new team, which would take oath on Sunday.
Assembly Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro also resigned from his post. Outgoing Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha is likely to be the new Speaker.
For the first time, the Chief Minister decided a complete revamp of his Ministry. According to speculations, 13 existing Ministers would be dropped and four women would find place in the new team.
The development came shortly after the BJD Government completed its three years of fifth term in office on May 29, 2022. Political observers felt the reshuffle is a major exercise to strengthen the party ahead of the 2024 general elections.
Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal has been informed about the swearing-in ceremony. The new Ministers would take oath of office at 11.45 am at a function to be held at the Convention Centre of Lokseva Bhawan on Sunday, the Raj Bhavan sources said.
The process needs to be completed by Monday as the Governor is scheduled to go outside the State after two days.
Naveen Patnaik is also scheduled to visit Rome and Dubai from June 20, the CMO sources said.
Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Pradip Amat, Usha Devi, Rita Sahu, Rajendra Dholakia, Pratap Deb, Tukuni Sahu, Pramilla Mallik and Srikanta Sahu are among the new faces for Ministerial berths as they received phone calls from the CMO.
The others likely to be inducted into the Ministry are Surjya Narayan Patro, Badri Narayan Patra, Aswini Patra, Pritiranjan Ghadai, Rohit Pujari and Manohar Gandhari.