Orissa CM Naveen Patnauk sidelined party hoppers and rewarded the loyalists of Biju Patnaik in distributing berths in his 21-member ministry.
Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik, who returned to power for the third consecutive time on Thursdayday, sidelined party hoppers and rewarded the loyalists of his charismatic father Biju Patnaik in distributing berths in his 21-member ministry on Thursday.
As a result, senior leaders like Bed Prakash Agarwal, Aurobindo Dhali and Nrushingha Sahu, who had joined BJD, the first regional party who made it on its own in the state, just ahead of the elections were denied ministerial berths though they won the polls.
Agarwal, who defeated BJP stalwart Bijay Mohapatra in Patkura assembly seat, was a minister in Patnaik's first term as a BJP member. He had, however, lost the 2004 polls and succeeded this time as a BJD candidate.
Dhali had joined BJD after quitting Samajwadi Party. He had, earlier, been elected to the assembly from Malkangiri assembly seat on BJP ticket.
Sahu was a Congress MLA in the last assembly and joined the BJD after being denied ticket from his traditional Parjang seat.
Patnaik selectively chose Biju loyalists Prafulla Samal, Prasanna Acharya and Damodar Rout.
Rout, who was dropped from the council of ministers during Patnaik's previous tenure, was sworn in as cabinet minister.
Though ousted from the cabinet, Rout, who returned to the assembly from Paradip assembly seat, continued his loyalty to the party and the chief minister, which ultimately paid him dividends.
Samal and Acharya, ministers in the Biju Patnaik cabinet in the early 1990s took oath as ministers. Though Samal was almost out of the political arena for a decade, he was given a ministerial berth.
Acharya, a BJD Lok Sabha MP for over a decade, contested the assembly polls this time.
In fact of the 11 cabinet ministers, 6 were in Biju Patnaik's cabinet in 1990. They are Prafulla Ghadei, Damador Rout, AU Singhdeo, Prasanna Acharya, Prafulla Samal and SN Patro.
The other members of the new council of ministers are fresh faces while Pravin Chandra Bhanjadeo is a debutant in the assembly.
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