Putting all speculations into rest, CM Naveen Patnaik effected the Ministry reshuffle by inducting 6 new Cabinet Ministers and 4 Ministers of State. Two Ministers were also elevated to Cabinet Rank. Controversial Karanjia MLA Bijay Nayak, who was supposed to take oath as MoS, was dropped at the eleventh hour.
Governor Dr. SC Jamir administered the oath of office to all Ministers at Raj Bhavan. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik along with his Cabinet, was also present at the swearing-in ceremony.
Steel & Mines Minister Prafulla Mallick (Kamakhyanagar) and Commerce & Transport Minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi (Jharigam MLA), who were elevated to Cabinet rank, took the oath first.
Later, Surjya Narayan Patro (Digapahandi), Niranjan Pujari (Sonepur), Pratap Jena (Mahanga), Maheswar Mohanty (Puri), Sasibhushan Behera (Jayadev) and Prafulla Samal (Bhandaripokhari) were sworn-in as Cabinet Ministers.
The Ministers of State who took the oath, included Dr. Nrusingha Charan Sahu (Parjanga), Ananta Das (Bhograi), Chandra Sarathi Behera (Cuttack Sadar) and Susanta Singh (Bhatli).
Portfolio allocations will be done later today.