New Delhi: Odisha Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha and two state ministers resigned on Friday evening in the wake of speculations that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is contemplating a reshuffle of his cabinet, news agency PTI reported. The two ministers of state who put in their papers are Samir Ranjan Dash (School and Mass Education) and Srikant Sahu (Labour).
After submitting his resignation letter to Deputy Speaker Rajanikanta Singh, Arukha said that he has quit on personal grounds. “I have performed my duty as Speaker with honesty and sincerity. I will continue to serve the people with similar commitment. I will accept whatever responsibility is given to me,” PTI quoted Arukha, a six-time MLA from Bhanjanagar in Ganjam district, as saying.
PTI cited sources in the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) who said that the Speaker may be inducted in the ministry when the cabinet reshuffle takes place.
Meanwhile, Srikant Sahu, who has been accused of harassing a woman BJD leader from Ganjam district, however, said that he resigned to work for the organisation. “Allegations in public life is not new. I resigned because I will dedicate my time and energy for the party,” the minister said.
Speaking on his resignation, Samir Ranjan Dash said that he has requested the BJD chief to give him “more organisational work”.
Meanwhile, counting of votes for the bypoll to Odisha’s Jharsuguda assembly seat will begin at 8am on Saturday, Chief Electoral Officer Nikunja Bihari Dhal said. Though there are nine candidates, the contest was restricted to three candidates - Deepali Das of the ruling BJD, Tarun Pandey of Congress and Tankadhar Tripathy of the BJP.
As per reports, a total of 79.21 per cent of the 2.21 lakh voters exercised their franchise on March 10. “All arrangements are in place for the counting of votes at the Engineering School premises in Jharsuguda. There will be 18 complete rounds and one partial round. Postal ballots will be counted first,” the CEO said.