BHUBANESWAR: More than three months after the coronavirus crisis brought normal life to a halt, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has slowly resumed its core political activities signalling a change in the offing.
Appointment of 18 officebearers of the apart, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik presided over a virtual meeting of the BJD legislature party on July 1 and asked the legislators to connect with the people without any gathering by using technology which, analysts say, is a sign that activities at the constituency level must restart.
Though politics will be no longer be similar to what it was in the pre-Covid days, sources said by asking the legislators to connect with people and appointing new officebearers, the Chief Minister may in the next round go for a reshuffle in the ministry and changes in the top level of administration.
Going by sources, a process is underway to identify names which might include some fresh faces.
The number of aspirants has swollen ever since talks of a reshuffle started doing the rounds in political circles here.
Functioning of several departments, including Health and Family Welfare, Labour and Employment, Panchayatiraj and Rural Development, came under focus during the State’s fight against Covid pandemic and evaluation will be made basing on performance.
By appointing office-bearers and creating a post of senior vice-president, sources said the Chief Minister has started the elimination process and a reshuffle may take place in near future.
However, opinions in the ruling party also differ over the need for a ministry reshuffle when Covid-19 positive cases are rapidly increasing in the State.
While a section maintain that a reshuffle has become necessary, some legislators are of the opinion that ministry reshuffle can wait for now.
For the political class, the outbreak of Covid-19 came as a jolt as ministers and MLAs remained out of circulation during the four phases of the lockdown.
Their role in the fight against the virus was also minimal as administrators played a key role. A 21-member ministry, including the Chief Minister, was sworn in on May 29, 2019.
The ministry had 11 Cabinet Ministers and nine Ministers of State with independent charge. It had 10 new faces and two women.