Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday reshuffled his ministry with a view to checkmate the BJP which is trying to grow mainly in the tribal areas of the state.

The reshuffle saw the old guards being taken back into the ministry. The basic objective is to strengthen the party’s base in areas like Naveen’s home turf Ganjam and stall the progress of the BJP in areas of western Odisha and Mayurbhanj in northern Odisha from where President Droupadi Murmu hails.

This is Naveen’s second ministry reshuffle in his fifth term as the chief minister and likely the last before the 2024 general election.

Those included in the ministry are former Speaker and Bhanjanagar MLA from Ganjam Bikram Keshari Arukh, 61, former minister and Bangiriposhi MLA from Mayurbhanj Sudam Marandi, 61, and former minister and Rourkela MLA from Sundergarh district Sarada Prasad Nayak, 64. They were sworn in as cabinet ministers by governor Prof Ganeshi Lal here at the Lok Sabha Bhavan.

The seats were vacated following the murder of Naba Kishore Das and the resignation of Samir Ranjan Dash and Srikant Sahu. Both the leaders were embroiled in controversy and the Opposition was constantly demanding their scalps.

Arukh, who resigned from the post of Speaker on May 12 hails from Ganjam. “The BJP is deploying its resources to make an entry into Naveen’s home turf. Besides, Gopalpur MLA of Ganjam Pradeep Panigrahi, once the blue-eyed boy of Naveen, turned rebel and is constantly on the move to weaken the BJD’s base. Leaders like former Speaker Surya Naryan Patra have become old and is unwell. At this point, the party has no alternative but to depend on six-time MLA, Arukh, known for his organisational skills,” said an insider.

He was given the finance portfolio. Earlier, it was held by Niranjan Pujari, who will now have to be content with health and parliamentary affairs portfolios.

After the BJP tried to cash in by projecting the President who hails from Mayurbhanj, the BJD had no choice but to call in the veteran and former minister Sudam into the ministry again. He was a minister — once from 2014 to 2017 and again from 2019 to 2022. But he was dropped from the ministry following a reshuffle.

The BJP has made Bishweswar Tudu from Mayurbhanj a Union minister. Now, the BJD is focusing on strengthening its organisational network not just in Mayurbhanj but also in tribal pockets of the state. It has already made Basanti Hembram from the Karanjia Assembly of Mayurbhanj as minister and again brought back Sudam to counter the BJP wave in the coming day. Of Mayurbhanj’s nine Assembly seats, the BJD won only three and the BJP six in 2019. Sudam was made the minister for school and mass education.

The Naveen government also wanted to counter the BJP’s growing influence in Sundergarh. Out of 7 Assembly seats, the BJD won 2 and the BJP three respectively. The Sundergarh Lok Sabha is represented by BJP’s Jual Oram. It brought back Sudam who was a minister from 2009-2012, to the ministry again.

“Besides, the party rewarded Sarada Nayak for his efforts to ensure that it won in the by-election in Jharsuguda, the adjoining Assembly seat of Rourkela,” said an insider. Sarada was given the portfolio of labour and employee’s state insurance department.