Bhubaneswar: After being inducted in the Naveen Patnaik Cabinet in a minor rejig ahead of 2024 twin polls, senior BJD leader Bikram Keshari Arukha was assigned the Finance portfolio on Monday.
Sudam Marandi and Sarada Nayak, who were also sworn in as Cabinet ministers, got School & Mass Education and Labour & Employees’ State Insurance departments, respectively.
Governor Ganeshi Lal, who cut-short his visit to home state Haryana and arrived in Odisha capital on Sunday, administered the oath of office and secrecy to them at the swearing-in ceremony here in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik around 9.50 am.
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Arukha, a six-time MLA from Bhanjanagar, was elected as Speaker in June 22. He resigned from his post on May 12 citing personal reasons but was open to joining the ministry.
Niranjan Pujari earlier held the Finance portfolio and was given additional charge of Health and Family Welfare after the murder of Naba Kishore Das on January 29. The other two departments had fallen vacant following the resignation of Samir Ranjan Dash (School and Mass Education) and Srikanta Sahu (Labour and Employees’ State Insurance).
