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With BJP snapping at BJD’s heels in Odisha, CM and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik Friday effected a massive reshuffle in the party. He is also learnt to have asked several ministers to resign so that they can be entrusted with organisational work.
Naveen is expected to reshuffle his cabinet Sunday before he leaves for a meeting of CMs of Maoist-hit states in Delhi. Ahead of the cabinet reshuffle, he changed heads of 22 districts units of Biju Chhatra Janata Dal. He also put nine senior BJD leaders, including five ministers, in-charge of districts where the party performed poorly in the panchayat polls.
BJD sources said Energy Minister Pranab Prakash Das, Panchayati Raj minister Arun Sahoo, Civil Supplies Minister Sanjay Das Verma and School and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra are set to resign. Tribal Development Minister Lal Bihari Himrika, Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises Jogendra Behera, Textile Minister Snehangini Chhuria, Sports Minister Sudam Marandi and Urban Development Minister Pushpendra Singhdeo too are likely to be dropped from the ministry.
While Das Verma was appointed BJD’s general secretary (Youth Affairs), Sahoo has been named the party’s general secretary (Student Affairs). Mishra has been asked to look after BJD affairs in Sambalpur district, where BJP almost swept panchayat polls. Higher Education Minister Pradip Panigrahy would look after the party’s base in Gajapati district.
Meanwhile, Speaker Niranjan Pujari has resigned, possibly for induction into the cabinet. Former MP Sashi Bhushan Behera too is likely to get a ministerial berth.
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