By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, May 29, 2019: Naveen Patnaik began a record fifth consecutive term as chief minister on Wednesday with Odisha Governor Gandeshi Lal administering the oath of office along with 11 as cabinet ministers and nine as minister of state.

The new Cabinet has 10 new faces and two women.

“It’s a nostalgic personal journey for me to reminisce the past 19 years. Today while I take oath of office for the 5th term, I humbly accept the responsibility that comes with the faith my 4.5 crore family members have reposed on me, yet again”, tweeted Mr. Patnaik.
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) May 29, 2019

Patnaik has been addressing people of Odisha as his family members for long.

Mr. Patnaik’s sister, eminent writer Gita Mehta and brother industrialist Prem Patnaik were present on the occasion. Hundreds of women self-help group members from different parts of the State also attended the ceremony.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Mr. Patnaik. In a tweet, he said, “I assure complete cooperation from the Centre in working for Odisha’s progress.”

Those who took oath as Cabinet Ministers were Ranendra Pratap Swain, Bikram Keshari Arukha, Prafulla Mallick, Padmanabha Behera, Pratap Jena, Niranjan Pujari, Arun Kumar Sahoo, Sudam Marandi, Sushant Singh, Naba Kishore Das and Tukuni Sahu.

Sudam Marandi, who won from Bangiriposhi in Mayurbhanj disrict, took the oath in Santhali language.

Those who took oath as Ministers of State were Ashok Chandra Panda, Samir Ranjan Dash, Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Dibya Shankar Mishra, Premananda Nayak, Raghunandan Das, Padmini Dian, Tusharkanti Behera and Jagannath Saraka.

Patnaik will allocate their portfolios later in the day. .

For the first time, Patnaik was sworn in as the Chief Minister on March 5, 2000 when the BJD came to power with the Bharatiya Janata Party as its alliance partner.

Mr. Patnaik continued his second term from 2004 to 2009 when the BJD snapped its ties with the BJP post commujnal violence at Kandhamal district and fought the polls by sharing seats with the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Mr. Patnaik, who maintained equidistance from the Congress and the BJP, won the 2009 elections without an alliance. The BJD registered an emphatic victory in 2014 despit Modi wave sweeping across the country by securing 117 seats in the 147-member Assembly.

This time too, the BJD fought the elections without any alliance partner and won 112 of the 146 Assembly seats for which elections were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. Polling has been adjourned in the Patkura seat due to the death of the BJD nominee.

This is for the first time the BJD government headed by Mr. Patnaik will have the BJP as the main Opposition in the State. The BJP has bagged 23 seats, and the Congress nine.

Mr. Patnaik has won from two Assembly seats – Hinjili under the Aska Lok Sabha seat in south Odisha and the Bijepur under thbe Bargarh Lok Sabha seat in western Odisha. He has not yet decided which of the two seats he will quit.