Odisha cabinet reshuffle: Three new ministers join CM Naveen Patnaik’s government

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik added three new ministers to his cabinet in a minor reshuffle on Monday.

Senior MLAs Bikram Keshari Arukha, Sarada Prasad Nayak and Sudam Marndi took oath as new Odisha ministers. The minor reshuffle comes after two ministers of Patnaik cabinet resigned and one minister was assassinated recently.

Former Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das, MLA from Jharsuguda, was fatally shot on January 29 this year. Then on May 12, Minister of School and Mass Education Ranjan Dash and Minister of Labour and Employees’ State Insurance Srikanta Sahu resigned alongside Odisha Assembly Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha. This had left the Patnaik cabinet three ministers short of full strength of 22.

The minor reshuffle comes a year after CM Patnaik had overhauled his entire cabinet in a major reshuffle back in June 2022.

(Inputs from ANI, IANS)