Naveen stresses on clean image of MLAs

While Patnaik gave priority to the winning chance of a candidate during BJD ticket distribution, he stressed on the public perception on ministers,' the sources said.

Patnaik inducted 20 members in his Council of Ministers, ignoring half-a-dozen leaders including former speaker Maheswar Mohanty and former minister Debasis Nayak.

Mohanty and Nayak were dropped from the previous government following allegations of sexual harassment by a lady marshal in the assembly.

The lady marshal in February 2008 had accused Mohanty of sexual harassment. Mohanty was subsequently dropped from the Speaker's post.

Similarly, Nayak lost his ministerial post for allegedly campaigning against Mohanty.

Though Mohanty received a clean chit from the Orissa Human Rights Commission as well as the police, Patnaik did not include him in the ministry, they said.

The sources said that Patnaik had sought reports from the police and the intelligence department before verifying the credentials of aspirants for ministerial berths. The Chief Minister also stressed on the public image of individuals.

The former ministers who were denied a chance of becoming ministers again are Bijayshree Routray, Bishnu Das, Rabinarayan Nanda, Debasis Nayak and Kalandi Behera.

Similarly, senior MLAs who failed to win the confidence of the Chief Minister are Kalpataru Das, Pradip Maharathy and Arun Sahu.