Who is Rohit Pujari, dropped by Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik for ‘poor performance’

Rohit Pujari had joined the Cabinet only a year ago; Patnaik seen as seeking to send a message to his ministry to pull up its socks in an election year

Rohit Pujari had served as a minister for just a year, having been inducted in the Cabinet in June 2022. (Twitter/@DHE_Odisha)

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Rohit Pujari, the Odisha Higher Education Minister who was dropped from the state Cabinet on Friday, became the first minister to be sacked for “poor performance” by Naveen Patnaik in his 23 years as Chief Minister. Food, civil supplies and consumer welfare minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak has now been given additional charge of the department.

Official sources said the annual review by the Odisha CM showed that the performance of the Higher Education Department was at the bottom among all departments. The 49-year-old leader had served as a minister for just a year, having been inducted in the Cabinet in June 2022.

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The decision to drop Pujari came barely a week after Patnaik had rejigged his Cabinet to induct three former ministers, indicating that the CM was not happy with Pujari’s performance. “As elections are next year, the CM is very particular about fulfilling promises made by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in its 2019 election manifesto. By dropping a minister for poor performance, he has sent a message to all ministers to raise their ‘game’,” said a senior BJD leader.

Patnaik has sacked several ministers in the past, but the reasons for those ranged from their alleged role in corruption to other controversies. Many of them were also dropped ostensibly for organisational duties.

Speaking to reporters, Pujari, the MLA from Rairakhol, said: “I always tried to give my best but somehow, my efforts couldn’t satisfy the CM. He may have had more expectations from me. I was inducted as a minister just a year ago. There is a long way to go and I will try to learn from it and excel in my career.”

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He also added that the CM had given him “adequate scope” to work in the past, and he would accept whatever responsibility now given to him.

A two-time MLA from Rairakhol Assembly segment in Sambalpur district, Pujari earlier served as the BJD’s deputy chief whip in the state Assembly from 2014 to 2019, and again from 2019 to 2022.

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A bachelors in mechanical engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, Pujari started his political career in the Congress and was president of the Odisha Youth Congress, from 2006 to 2009, before switching over to the BJD ahead of the 2009 Assembly and general elections.

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The BJD first fielded him from the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency, where he had been working on the ground for around four years. But he lost to Congress candidate Amarnath Pradhan by a thin margin of 8,931 votes in 2019. The Patnaik government then appointed Pujari as chairman of the Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation (OLIC) from 2009 to 2014.

In 2014, he Pujari got the BJD ticket from Rairakhol Assembly segment, winning by 11,909 votes. When the ruling party repeated Pujari from the same seat in 2019, he increased the winning margin to 14,632 votes.

A sports enthusiast, Pujari is a former state junior champion in badminton and has also represented Odisha at the national level.

Sujit Bisoyi

Sujit Bisoyi is a Special Correspondent with the Indian Express and covers Odisha. His interests are in politics, policy and people’s stories. He tweets at @bisoyisujit87 ... Read More