Odisha: 21 ministers take oath as Naveen Patnaik does total cabinet revamp

In the biggest ever cabinet reshuffle in his 22-year-long reign, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday inducted 21 ministers including 7 first-timers and three women, a day after his entire cabinet resigned en masse paving way for cleansing the ministry of several controversial faces.

In the swearing-in ceremony held at the convention hall of the Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, 13 cabinet ministers and 8 ministers of state with independent charge were administered the oath of office by governor Professor Ganeshi Lal.

The cabinet ministers who took oath are Jagannath Saraka, Tukuni Sahu, Pramila Mallik, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Tusharkanti Behera, Naba Kishore Das, Samir Ranjan Dash, Pratap Keshari Deb, Atanu Sabyasachi, Rohit Pujari and Rajendra Dholakia.

The ministers of state who took oath are Sabita Hembram, Srikanta Sahu, Aswini Patra, Ashok Panda, Usha Devi, Niranjan Pujari, Priti Ranjan Ghadei, Pradip Amat and Rita Sahu.

Their portfolios will be allocated later in the day, officials familiar with the matter said.

On Saturday, 20 ministers resigned from the cabinet on the lines of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government where all the ministers of the Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) government resigned en masse in April this year. 

On Saturday, Patnaik ordered the closure of offices of advisors/chairpersons of 23 different departments/corporations/boards.