The Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik embarked on a record fifth term in power after a clear victory in Odisha’s four-phase Assembly elections which were held simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls.
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Governor Ganeshi Lal administered the oath of office and secrecy to Naveen Patnaik and other ministers at 10:30 am at a function in Bhubaneswar today. The swearing-in was held in full public view, in the Exhibition Ground outside the Raj Bhavan.
In the state’s 147-member Assembly, the regional party won 112 seats and returned to power for a fifth consecutive term. BJP won 23 Assembly seats while Congress got only eight. Of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state, BJD managed to win 12 while BJP bagged eight and Congress one.
On the eve of swearing in 11 cabinet ministers and nine ministers of state were appointed by the governor on Patnaik’s recommendation. The total strength of the council of ministers in Odisha is 21, including the Chief Minister.
Patnaik’s new ministry will have 10 new faces: Telkoi MLA Premaanda Nayak, Titlagarh MLA Tukuni Sahu (Woman), Nimapara MLA Sameer Das, Jharsuguda MLA Naba Kishore Das, Kotpad MLA Padmini Dian (Woman), Balikuda-Erasama MLA Raghunandan Das, Junagarh MLA Dibyashankar Mishra, Bissam Cuttack MLA Jagannath Saraka, Simulia MLA Jyotiprakash Panigarhi, and Kakatpur MLA Tusharkanti Behera.
The 11 cabinet ministers are: Ranendra Pratap Swain, Bikram Keshari Arukha, Prafulla Mallick, Niranjan Pujari, Padmanabh Behera, Pratap Jena, Arun Kumar Sahoo, Sudam Marandi, Sushant Singh, Naba Kishore Das, and Tukuni Sahu (woman).
The nine Ministers of State are: Ashok Chandra Panda, Sameer Ranjan Dash, Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Dibya Shankar Mishra, Premananda Nayak, Raghunandan Das, Padmini Dian (Woman), Tusharkanti Behera and Jagannath Saraka.
Former minister Surya Narayan Patro will be nominated for the Speaker’s post while former minister Pramila Mallick will be appointed as the Government Chief Whip, according to sources.
The role of Chief Whip is regarded as secretive, as the Whip is concerned with the discipline of their own party’s Members of the house and never makes public appearances in their capacity as a whip.
Bikram Arukh, Pratap Jena, Niranjan Pujari, Prafulla Mallick, Ashok Panda and Sushant Singh are among the legislators who retained their ministerial berths.
Meanwhile, a day before taking oath as chief minister, BJD president Naveen Patnaik Tuesday visited Shree Jagannath temple in Puri.
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The state leaders of all national and regional parties, top industrialists and investors, and leaders of several organisations of farmers, women, and teachers had been invited to attend Patnaik’s swearing-in ceremony. 7000 invitees were likely to attend the ceremony.
“We have invited everyone. The PM has been invited, too. Those who took part in the ‘Make in Odisha’ initiative and all those who are involved in furthering the state’s interests have been invited,” said BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb.
Patnaik had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the swearing-in ceremony. Though Modi did not attend the function, he congratulated Patnaik through Twitter.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi through his message assured Centre’s complete cooperation to Naveen Patnaik and offered his best wishes to him and his team in fulfilling the people’s aspirations.
Meanwhile, after a landslide victory in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi is also set to take an oath for his consecutive second term on May 30.