Bhubaneswar: Congress leader Srikant Jena has a reason to smile amidst political crisis in Centre as he has been assigned Chemical and Fertilizers portfolio after DMK’s MK Alagiri quit Union Cabinet on Wednesday.

Jena, who is Minister of State in the same ministry, will also continue with the portfolios of statistics and programme implementation after his elevation.

The withdrawal of DMK’s support from Congress-led UPA over Sri Lankan Tamil issue has brought good luck for Jena, who was looking for the right opportunity to get important portfolios. Though, Alagiri was reluctant to quit the Cabinet, he was forced to submit his resignation on the instruction of party chief. With the resignation of five representatives holding different portfolios, the DMK ended the 9-year-old alliance with the UPA.

Jena is the four-time MP from Odisha. He had been also elected to State Assembly thrice. He represents Balasore constituency in the Lok Sabha.