BHUBANESWAR: With the buzz of early election doing the rounds, speculation is rife that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is set to go for a ministry reshuffle soon. The rejig though is stated to be a minor one, especially focusing on western Odisha where the BJP is in a better position.
The reshuffle will aim to strike a balance and nullify the warring factions mainly in the Sambalpur, Bargarh and Deogarh districts. Besides, BJD leaders from western Odisha who scripted a spectacular victory for the party in Padampur bypoll will be assigned an important role ahead of the polls.
Sources said that former minister Sushant Singh, who played a crucial role in the Padampur victory, is likely to make a comeback into the ministry and some ministers from the region are likely to be axed.
Acute factionalism persists in the party ranks in western Odisha and important leaders do not see eye to eye. Singh, who represents the Bhatli Assembly constituency in Bargarh district, is the only senior leader from the area who is now not part of the cabinet.
The chief minister cannot keep Singh unhappy for a longer period in view of the approaching election. The former minister who was in charge of the Padampur bypoll has shown his organisational might. It is unlikely that in an election year he will be kept outside the cabinet, they said.
As the focus of the BJD will be western Odisha which has as many as 36 Assembly seats, Singh along with Health and Family Welfare minister Naba Kishore Das are likely to play a major role during the election. The reshuffle will be carried out to maintain a balance between the two leaders.
The party leadership has set a target to win 30 out of 36 Assembly seats from the region and has to keep all factions happy at this juncture, sources said. A senior leader of the party said that the reshuffle may take place any day after the organisational reshuffle of the party, the process for which has already started. The chief minister has already announced new party spokespersons and appointed several leaders as advisors to different departments and heads of state public sector undertakings.
The chief minister had overhauled his entire ministry in June last year, inducting 21 ministers including seven first-timers and three women. Singh, who held the Rural Development and Labour portfolios, was one of the casualties of the reshuffle.