5th run Cabinet track on for women, old hands and the ministers

BHUBANESWAR: With elections over, all attention is now on government formation as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is likely to take oath for the fifth consecutive time on May 29 along with his new team.
As the Chief Minister had campaigned for 33 per cent reservation of women in state legislatures and Parliament, speculation is rife that he may go for one-third representation of women in his new ministry. The outgoing ministry had two women members, Usha Devi and Snehangini Chhuria, both of whom have won the Assembly elections this time.

Besides, several women leaders including former minister Pramila Mallick have been elected to the Assembly this time. Other victorious women leaders are Manjula Swain, Minakshi Mahanta, Simarani Nayak, Latika Pradhan, Basanti Hembrum, Padmini Dian and Tukuni Sahu. Sources said though adequate number of women members have not been elected to meet the one-third criteria (seven), representation of women may go up in the new ministry.

As all the ministers in the outgoing ministry fielded by the BJD have won except Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Maheswar Mohanty, there are intense speculation as to who will get a berth in the new Cabinet.

Forest and Environment Minister Bijoyshree Routray opted out of the electoral race in favour of his son while Ramesh Chandra Majhi has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Nabarangpur constituency.
There are several experienced hands like Surya Narayan Patro, Pratap Jena and Sashi Bhusan Behera who have won the polls and it is unlikely that the Chief Minister will ignore them for a berth in the
ministry.

Similarly, several former ministers including Pratap Deb, Debi Prasad Mishra, Pranab Prakash Das and Arun Sahu have also been elected to the new House.While Patro is the most senior minister and has remained loyal to the Chief Minister all along, Deb has also returned to the House with a huge margin of over 50,000 votes.

Sources said MLAs whose constituencies fell in the Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat have a good chance of getting into the ministry. They include former minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and Deb. BJD Rajya Sabha member Soumya Ranjan Patnaik who won with a huge margin of over 80,000 votes may also get into the Cabinet.Others in the contention are Naba Kishore Das, former working president of the state Congress who joined BJD before the polls.

Chances of senior leader and former minister Ranendra Pratap Swain and Prashant Muduli who defeated Congress heavyweight Chiranjib Biswal cannot be ruled out. Sources said there may be a woman Speaker in the Assembly this time and senior leader Usha Devi has emerged as the front runner for the prestigious post. In that case, the Speaker of the outgoing assembly Pradip Amat may get into the Cabinet again.