Bhubaneswar: Soon after the resignation of his 20 ministers and Speaker, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik has probably selected 21 MLAs as his new ministers. Though the official statement regarding the names of the ministers is yet to be disclosed, it is learnt that 13 MLAs are likely to get the Cabinet berths while eight MLAs have been chosen to be the Ministers of State (Independent Charge).
According to official sources, Jagannath Saraka, Niranjan Pujari, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Pramila Mallick, Usha Devi, Prafulla Kumar Mallick, Pratap Keshari Deb, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Pradip Kumar Amat, Naba Kisore Das, Ashok Chandra Panda, Tukuni Sahu and Rajendra Dholakia have been informed over the phone from the CMO to present at the Convention Hall of the Lok Seva Bhavan to take the oath of office as Cabinet Ministers.
Read: Cabinet reshuffle in Odisha: All ministers of Naveen Patnaik govt, assembly speaker resign
Similarly, Samir Ranjan Dash, Ashwini Kumar Patra, Pritiranjan Ghadei, Srikanta Sahu, Tusharkanti Behera, Rohit Pujari, Rita Sahu and Basanti Hembram have received phone calls to present at the Convention Hall of Lok Seva Bhavan to take the oath of office as Ministers of State (Independent Charge), the sources added. All those who have been selected will take oath at the swearing-in ceremony, which is slated to be held at the convention hall of Raj Bhavan at 11.45 am on Sunday.
