Former Odisha Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha was one of three new ministers sworn in to the Odisha cabinet led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday.
In the presence of Patnaik, Governor Ganeshi Lal administered the oath of office to Arukha and two senior BJD MLAs, Sarada Prashad Nayak and Sudam Marandi, at the Convention Centre of Lok Seva Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. The Council of Ministers reshuffle comes ahead of the Assembly and General Elections next year.
This will be Patnaik’s second Cabinet reshuffle during his fifth term as Odisha’s chief minister.
The Cabinet reshuffle was required after Odisha Speaker Arukha and two cabinet ministers resigned earlier this month, citing personal reasons. Aside from that, one position remained vacant following the assassination of Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das in January.
Soon after the Speaker resigned, two Cabinet Ministers, Samir Ranjan Dash and Srikant Sahu, resigned as well. Samir Ranjan Dash was the state’s Minister of School and Mass Education, while Srikant Sahu was in charge of the Ministry of Labour.
Deepali Das, the newly elected MLA of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and daughter of slain Odisha Minister Naba Kishore Das, took oath on May 15, her late father’s birthday. She defeated BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathy in the Jharsuguda by-election. Deepali was fielded by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in her father’s constituency.
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