Bhubaneswar: The newly formed Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha government on Wednesday released the list of newly appointed Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State (Independent charge) and a Minister of State along with their portfolios.
Earlier in the day, Naveen Patnaik was administered the as the chief minister of Odisha by Governor Ganeshi Lal at the Idco Exhibition Ground. He had led his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to a landslide victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
Besides, twenty newly elected BJD MLAs also took oath as ministers, including 11 of Cabinet rank.
Soon after taking oath, Patnaik tweeted: “It’s nostalgic and personal journey for me to reminiscence the past 19 years. Today while I take oath of office for the 5th term, I humbly accept the responsibility that comes with the faith my 4.5 crore family members have reposed on me, yet again.”
It is for the first time that the 72-year-old Patnaik, who won from his home turf Hinjili in Ganjam district and Bijepur in western Odisha, has taken oath in an open public ground. In 2000, 2004, 2009 and 2014, the swearing-in ceremony was held at the Raj Bhavan.
The 11 MLAs who took oath as cabinet ministers are Prafulla Mallick, Bikram Keshari Arukh, Niranjan Pujari, Tukuni Sahu, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Arun Sahoo, Sudam Marndi, Pratap Jena, Padmanabh Behera, Sushant Singh and Naba Kishor Das.
The nine ministers of state are Padmini Dian, Ashok Chandra Panda, Sameer Ranjan Dash, Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Dibya Shankar Mishra, Premananda Nayak, Raghunandan Das, Tusharkanti Behera and Jagannath Saraka.
The new ministry, which includes two women, is a blend of experienced and fresh faces.
The 10 new faces in the Patnaik ministry are Premananda Nayak, Tukuni Sahu, Sameer Ranjan Das, Naba Kishore Das, Padmini Dian, Raghunandan Das, Dibyashankar Mishra, Jagannath Saraka, Jyotiprakash Panigarhi and Tusharkanti Behera.
Bikram Arukh, Pratap Jena, Niranjan Pujari, Prafulla Mallick, Ashok Chandra Panda and Sushant Singh are among the legislators who retained their ministerial berths.
The council of ministers has four Scheduled Tribe (ST) members – Sudam Marndi, Pramamand Nayak, Padmini Dian, Jagannath Saraka.
Similarly, two new ministers belong to Scheduled Caste (SC) – Padmanabh Behera and Tushar Kanti Behera.
At least 13 of the 30 districts remained unrepresented in Patnaik’s new ministry. They are Angul, Bhadrak, Boudh, Deogarh, Jajpur, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Kendrapara, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Malkangiri, Sambalpur and Sundargarh.
Full List of Council of Ministers:
| Ministers | Portfolios |
| Naveen Patnaik (CM) | Home, General Administration & Public Grievance and any other Department specifically not assigned. |
| Niranjan Pujari (Cabinet Minister) | Finance, Excise |
| Bikram Keshari Arukha (Cabinet Minister) | Forest & Environment, Parliamentary Affairs |
| Prafulla Kumar Mallik (Cabinet Minister) | Steel and Mines, Works |
| Ranendra Pratap Swain (Cabinet Minister) | Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare, Co-operation |
| Padmanabha Behera (Cabinet Minister) | Planning and Convergence, Commerce & Transport |
| Pratap Jena (Cabinet Minister) | Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Law, Housing & Urban Development |
| Arun Kumar Sahoo (Cabinet Minister) | Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Fisheries & Animal Resources Development, Higher Education |
| Sudam Marndi (Cabinet Minister) | Revenue and Disaster Management |
| Susanta Singh (Cabinet Minister) | Rural Development, Labour and Employees’ State Insurance |
| Naba Kishore Das (Cabinet Minister) | Health and Family Welfare |
| Tukuni Sahu (Cabinet Minister) | Women and Child and Mission Shakti |
| Jagannath Sarka (MoS, Independent Charge) | ST &SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare. |
| Dibya Shankar Mishra (MoS, Independent Charge) | Energy, Industries, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises |
| Ashok Chandra Panda (MoS, Independent Charge) | Science & Technology, Public Enterprises, Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disability |
| Samir Ranjan Das (MoS, Independent Charge) | School and Mass Education |
| Jyoti Prakash Panigarhi (MoS, Independent Charge) | Tourism, Odia Language, Literature & Culture |
| Premananda Nayak (MoS, Independent Charge) | Skill Development & Technical Education |
| Raghunandan Das (MoS, Independent Charge) | Water Resources, Information & Public Relations |
| Padmini Dian (MoS, Independent Charge) | Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts |
| Tusharkanti Behara (MoS, Independent Charge) | Electronics & Information Technology, Sports and Youth Services |
| Prafulla Kumar Mallik (Minister of State) | Home |
The BJD won 112 Assembly seats while the BJP 23 and the Congress nine in the just concluded polls. An Independent and the CPI (M) secured one seat each.
While Odisha has 147 Assembly seats, polling in Patkura constituency was postponed twice following the death of a candidate and then due to cyclone Fani.
(Inputs from PTI)
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