Speaker of the Odisha Assembly, Bikram Keshari Arukha, and two Ministers on Friday quit their posts fuelling hypothesis of a minor reshuffle within the Naveen Patnaik Cabinet.
School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash and Labour and Employee’s State Insurance Minister Srikanta Sahu stepped down from their ministerial positions.
The two Ministers had been entangled in numerous controversies. While a Biju Janata Dal lady chief levelled allegation of harassment towards Mr. Sahu, Mr. Dash’s title was dragged into controversy of alleged suicide by Dharmendra Sahu, a zilla parishad member in Puri district.
“I have resigned from the Speaker’s post due to personal reasons. I have performed to the best of my ability in whichever posts I have been assigned in the past. I will accept any position either in party or government in future,” mentioned Mr. Arukha.
Mr. Sahu mentioned, “since the elections are just one year away, I have resigned from my post to strengthen the party in my region.”
Both Mr. Arukha and Mr. Sahu belonged to Ganjam, the house district of Mr. Patnaik. During the previous one yr, inner squabbling inside the district unit of the celebration had grow to be a reason behind concern for the management. There isn’t any senior chief having organisational functionality who can lead the celebration within the district. Mr. Arukha is taken into account as the most suitable choice to fill the vacuum. In the previous, he had headed some necessary departments.
As far as Mr. Dash is worried, the BJD had misplaced the zilla parishad election in Puri district after suicide by Dharmendra Sahu. Political observers mentioned it had gone towards the Minister.
Neither Governor Ganeshi Lal nor Mr. Patnaik is in Odisha. The celebration could take a call on the reshuffle after declaration of the Jharsuguda by-election end result on Saturday.