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Gamang walks the line with new cabinet

Bibhuti Mishra in Bhubaneswar

Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang has tried to satisfy all camps with his new ministry.

Gomango dropped 11 members of the Patnaik ministry and did away with the post of deputy chief minister that Basant Biswal held. He then inducted nine ministers, three of whom are women. There was only one woman minister in the cabinet earlier.

The cabinet ministers dropped are Ramachandara Ulaka (welfare), Kishore Patel (forest and public enterprises), Prasanna Kumar Dash (environment, science and technology), Haibulla Khan (panchayati raj) and Harihar Swain (works).

While there was allegations of corruption against some of those dropped, it could be Dash's failing health that put him out of the reckoning. Some other ministers with a tainted record have been retained.

Though divested of the post of deputy chief minister, Basant Biswal, the arch rival of former chief minister J B Patnaik, has been retained in the cabinet.

J B Patnaik described the ministry as balanced, and the presence of more women in the cabinet will satisfy Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

According to a close confidant of Gamang: "Both the Patnaik and the Biswal camps have suffered some sacrifices, although any drastic step would have been foolhardy with elections nearing."

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