New cabinet takes oath in Odisha, 13 MLAs sworn in

Bhubaneswar:  A new cabinet took oath in Odisha on Sunday, a day after all 20 ministers in the state resigned to pave way for a reshuffle in the ministry.

BJD MLAs Jagannath Saraka, Niranjan Pujari and R P Swain were among the 13 MLAs who were administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Ganeshi Lal at the ceremony, being held in the new convention centre of Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.

Three women legislators -- Pramila Mallick, Usha Devi and Tukuni Sahu have been inducted into the cabinet.

Sources in the BJD said Saraka, a noted tribal leader, was the first to be sworn in as he is named after Lord Jagannath.

Odisha Assembly Speaker S N Patro had also quit the post on Saturday, but cited no reason for doing so.—PTI