BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today put to rest all speculations over a reshuffle in the ministry by stating that he had not thought about it now.
The statement has come as a turnaround as before his New Delhi visit on April 7, the chief minister had said on two different occasions that he will look into the matter. Sources said the chief minister has decided not to go for such an exercise in view of the national executive of the BJP scheduled on April 15 and 16 and talks about a BJP engineered split in the ruling BJD.
Talks of a reshuffle in the ministry had gained ground following the not so impressive performance of the BJD in the Zilla Parishad polls in February in which the tally of the party had dropped to 473 from 651 in 2012. The party had lost in the districts represented by several ministers where the BJP had emerged as a force.
The BJP put a serious challenge to the BJD by winning 293 ZP zones. Sources said the decision not to go for a reshuffle in the ministry may have been taken by the chief minister to pre-empt any possibility of growth of factionalism in the party ahead of the national executive of the BJP.
The decision not to go for a reshuffle in the ministry has after twitter spat between two senior MPs over the issue of a BJP engineered split in the party. Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram had also claimed that many BJD leaders including MPs, MLAs, former MPs and MLAs are in touch with the BJP to join the party after its impressive performance in the recently held assembly polls. The
chief minister had dismissed Oram's statement as wishful thinking.
The chief minister had also dismissed any differences among the party MPs after a meeting of the BJD parliamentary party at New Delhi on Monday.
The chief minister told media persons in New Delhi that legendary leader Biju Patnaik deserves the Bharat Ratna. “I think he certainly deserves it, very much," he said.
On being asked about Odisha's demand for special category status, he said, "It is a long-standing demand of the state."