Ministers have been asked to resign by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in order to undergo a full overhaul.
Following the mass resignation of Odisha ministers on Saturday in preparation for a Cabinet reshuffle, the offices of advisers and chairpersons of several departments, corporations, and boards ceased to exist on Sunday.
Ministers have been asked to resign by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in order to undergo a full overhaul. According to a statement from the Planning and Convergence Department, the offices of up to 23 Biju Janata Dal (BJD) officials who occupy positions as chairpersons and advisers of various corporations and departments will be decommissioned.
Sanjay Kumar Das Burma, the Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Board, is expected to be brought in to help the party’s organisation. Because they couldn’t be accommodated as Ministers, many of these BJD politicians were rehabilitated as corporate heads after the 2019 State elections.
Sanjay Das Burma, Krutibas Patra, Adviser to the Agriculture and Farmer Department, Priyadarshi Mishra, Chairperson of the Odisha State Housing Board, Puspendra Singh Deo, Member of the Western Odisha Development Council, Lopamudra Buxipatra, Adviser to Mission Shakti, Ramachandra Panda, Adviser to the Odisha State Agriculture Marketing Board, Utkal Keshari Parida.
According to party insiders, the administration would quickly fill the positions by bringing in more party officials to the corporation for the remaining two years of the Odisha Chief Minister’s fifth term. Some of them will be asked to join the party’s workforce.
Prasanta Patnaik