Three vacancies in Naveen Patnaik cabinet

With three vacancies in the Naveen Patnaik Cabinet in Odisha following the resignation of two ministers of state, ruling Biju Janata Dal MLAs have started lobbying to become a minister ahead of the general elections next year.

The Odisha Council of Ministers can have 22 ministers including the chief minister but now has 19 ministers. While one post was lying vacant after the assassination of Health minister Naba Kishore Das in January this year, two ministers of state – Samir Dash (School and Mass Education) and Srikant Sahu (Labour) resigned from their posts on Friday.

Patnaik may fill up the three vacancies soon, a senior party leader said, adding that the chief minister may also go for a mini-reshuffle of his cabinet to fill up the vacancies.