BHUBANESWAR: In an unprecedented move, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday asked his entire Cabinet along with the Speaker of the Assembly to resign, setting off speculations about the political game plan of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the run-up to the 2024 general elections.
A day after the Supreme Court judgement which went in favour of the Odisha government in the controversial Shri Jagannath Temple Heritage Corridor project, Naveen dropped the bomb by asking all his 20 ministers to tender their resignation. Even the Speaker of Assembly Surjya Narayan Patra put in his papers. Some of the ministers confirmed that they were asked to resign, while MLAs — new faces as well as old-timers — are reported to have received calls to stay put in Bhubaneswar.
The swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place on Sunday at 11.45 am at the Convention Centre in Raj Bhavan. Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal has been informed about the reshuffle on Friday. The Governor, who was in Puri, will return tonight.
This is the biggest ever overhaul effected by Naveen in his 22-year tenure as Chief Minister. While the reshuffle was in the offing, the move council of ministers has taken his own party as well as political pundits completely by surprise, which in a way has been the signature style of the BJD boss.
Political sources said Naveen was apparently waiting for the Supreme Court verdict on the Jagannath temple project as well as the Brajarajnagar bypoll result to effect the overhaul. The CM is going for a generational change in the Cabinet by inducting new faces.