Bhubaneswar: In a surprise move all the council of ministers in the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha resigned on Saturday to facilitate a new ministry to take oath on Sunday.
Political pundits said this will be the first of its kind in the political history of the BJD government headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during its fifth term that all the council of ministers have resigned before a cabinet reshuffle .
Sources said all the 20 council of ministers have tendered their resignation to Speaker S N Patro on Saturday.
The new council of ministry has assumed much significance as Odisha will go to the Assembly poll in 2024.
The oath taking ceremony of the new council of ministry is likely to be held on Sunday at Raj Bhawan at about 1145 hours , sources said.
This will be a major exercise of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to strengthen his party with new young faces in the council of ministers and allow the seniors to take charge of the organizational affairs of the party ahead of the 2024 general election.
The ruling BJD which has now 114 members in the 147 member Odisha Assembly after the party retained the Brajrajnagar Assembly seat in the by-election held on May 31 last.
BJD candidate Alaka Mohanty ,widow of sitting MLA Kishore Mohanty whose demise caused the
by poll, won the seat with a huge margin of over 66,000 votes against her nearest congress rival and former Odisha Assembly Speaker Kishore Chandra Patel on Friday.
