BHUBANESWAR: Ending all speculations, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday ruled out any reshuffle in his ministry in the near future. “There is no such thought,” Naveen, also the BJD chief, told mediapersons here replying to a question on the possible ministry reshuffle after the end of the hostage crisis.Two vacancies in the ministry caused by the resignations of then agriculture minister Pradip Maharathi and excise minister A U Singhdeo had given rise to speculation regarding a reshuffle. While Maharathi had resigned because of public outcry over the alleged Pipili gangrape case, Singhdeo had to go following the hooch tragedy in Cuttack and Khurda districts.Naveen’s announcement has disheartened a number of BJD leaders who were aspiring to get into the ministry. There was speculation that several non-performing ministers will be shown the door. While senior MLAs of the party were lobbying to get a berth in the next reshuffle, the Chief Minister has made it clear that there was no such move now. The BJD leaders were expecting the exercise to be over after the end of the budget session of the Assembly. However, the twin hostage crises faced by the Government apparently delayed the process.The Chief Minister had last reshuffled his ministry in May 2011 when five new ministers were inducted and three others, including the then agriculture minister Damodar Rout, were dropped.
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