New cabinet takes oath in Odisha, 13 MLAs sworn in
Bhubaneswar (PTI): A new cabinet took oath in Odisha on Sunday, a day after all 20 ministers in the state resigned to pave way for a reshuffle in the ministry.
BJD MLAs Jagannath Saraka, Niranjan Pujari and R P Swain were among the 13 MLAs who were administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Ganeshi Lal at the ceremony, being held in the new convention centre of Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.
Three women legislators -- Pramila Mallick, Usha Devi and Tukuni Sahu have been inducted into the cabinet.
Sources in the BJD said Saraka, a noted tribal leader, was the first to be sworn in as he is named after Lord Jagannath.
Odisha Assembly Speaker S N Patro had also quit the post on Saturday, but cited no reason for doing so.
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Rape convict Gurmeet Singh granted 21-day furlough by Haryana Government
Chandigarh: Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Gurmeet Singh was released on Wednesday morning after the Haryana Government granted him a 21-day furlough. He is currently serving a 20-year sentence for raping two of his disciples and is lodged at Sunaria Jail in Rohtak.
This is reportedly the 13th time since October 2020 that Gurmeet Singh has been granted parole or furlough. According to The Times of India, he has been out of jail for a total of 142 days since January 20 last year under the BJP-led government in Haryana.
Earlier this year, just ahead of the Delhi Assembly Elections, the Dera chief was granted a 30-day parole. In February, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a plea by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) challenging his repeated temporary releases. The apex court bench, comprising Justices B R Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra, disposed of the petition noting objections regarding its maintainability.
Gurmeet Singh, whose Dera has a significant following in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and other states, continues to face trial in sacrilege cases pending before a Chandigarh court. In Haryana, districts like Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar are known to have a large number of Dera followers.
