BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik was sworn in as Odisha Chief Minister for the fifth time in a row at the Exhibition Ground in Bhubaneswar today.

Odisha Governor Prof. Ganeshi Lal administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Patnaik and his twenty councils of ministers. The council of ministers comprises 11 cabinet and nine state rank ministers.

Six among them retained their ministerial berths. A huge gathering of dignitaries including captains of industries, women SHG leaders, and party workers attend the swearing-in ceremony. Polling was held for 146 constituencies of the 147-member Odisha Legislative Assembly.

Election to Patkura assembly constituency in Kendrapara district was countermanded and postponed after the death of the BJD candidate. The Biju Janata Dal, which secured 112 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly in the recently concluded elections has been in power in the state since 2000.

Eleven cabinet ministers include   Ranendra Pratap Swain, Bikram Keshari Arukha, Prafulla Mallick, Niranjan Pujari, Padmanabh Behera, Pratap Jena, Arun Kumar Sahoo, Sudam Marandi, Sushant Singh, Naba Kishore Das, and Tukuni Sahu.

Nine ministers of state are Ashok Chandra Panda, Sameer Ranjan Dash, Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Dibya Shankar Mishra, Premananda Nayak, Raghunandan Das, Padmini Dian, Tusharkanti Behera and Jagannath Saraka.