Bhubaneswar: With all ministers tendering their resignations, paving the way for Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for a major reshuffle, speculation is rife over who would get berths in the new ministry.
With Assembly and Lok Sabha elections two years ahead, Naveen’s decision to go for sweeping changes could not have come at a more opportune time, according to political experts. Because, he aims at scoring two political points with this singular one move. First, he will select his ministers’ team with an eye on 2024 polls and secondly, assign organisational responsibilities to certain leaders to prepare the ground for the Big Battle.
Naveen’s decision to change his ministry came a day after his party won the Brajarajnagar bypoll with consummate ease and also secured a favourable judgment from the Supreme Court in the Puri Parikrama Project case.
So far as the ministry is concerned, Naveen, an astute politician as he is, is well aware of the ground swell against some ministers over various allegations faced by them in recent times. With this stroke, he can get rid of them to keep his image clean ahead of the hustings, where he will aim to win for the sixth consecutive term.
At the same time, the BJD president can infuse some young blood into the ministry to boost their confidence to work with more enthusiasm in the days ahead. It would also help him recruit experienced leaders to look after the party affairs with an eye on Assembly elections.
Considering these factors, Naveen may also retain some able hands while rewarding the leaders who have been carrying out party affairs with sincerity. The names that are making rounds in the political circles in this regard include Pratap Dev, MLA from Aul in Kendrapada district and Mahakalapada MLA Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak from the same district.
Umakanta Samantray from Satyabadi and Rudra Maharathy from Pipili (both from Puri district), may also feature as new faces in the ministry.
Debi Prasad Mishra from Baramba and Prasant Behera from Salipur (both from Cuttack district) are likely to get into the ministry. In similar vein, Bhadrak MLA Sanjib Mallik and Chandbali legislator Byomkesh Ray from Bhadrak district are likely to get ministerial berths.
Other BJD leaders whose names are doing the rounds include Basati Hembrum (Karanjia), Debesh Acharya (Bargarh), Latika Pradhan (Kabisuryanagar), Aswini Kumar Patra (Jaleswar), Manohar Randhari (Dabugaon),
Prasant Muduli (Jagatsinghpur), Sudhir Kumar Samal (Dhenkanal), Pritiranjan Ghadai (Sukinda) and Badri Narayan Patra (Ghasipura).
According to highly reliable sources, Pratap Dev, Prasant Muduli and Aswini Kumar Patra have already got the call from chief minister’s office to be present in the swearing-in ceremony of new ministers in Raj Bhawan in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
Finance Minister and Sonepur MLA Niranjan Pujari, Nimapara MLA Samir Ranjan Das, Sushant Singh (Bhatli), Tukuni Sahu (Titlagarh) and Jharsuguda MLA Naba Kishore Das are likely to be retained in the ministry.
Rohit Pujari (Rairakhol), Rajendra Dholakia (Nuapada), Pramila Mallik (Binjharpur), and Srikant Sahu (Polasara) have also been invited to the ceremony.
