New Delhi [India], June 9 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Odisha Jual Oram took oath on Sunday evening as Union Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet.
Oram, 63, had previously served as the Union Cabinet Minister in charge of Tribal Affairs in the first term of the Narendra Modi government from May 2014 to May 2019.
He held the posts of National Vice-President and Member of the Central Election Committee in the BJP from 2012 to 2014, the president of the Odisha state party president from 2009 to 2011 and National Vice President of the BJP from 2006 to 2009.
In the 2024 parliamentary elections, Oram who was fielded from Odisha's Sundergarh constituency against Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate and former India hockey captain Dilip Tirkey won the seat by a margin of 1,38,808 votes. Oram had won the seat five times between 1998 and 2019.
Earlier last month, confident that the BJP was on course to form the government at both the Centre and the state, Oram said, "Sensing the pulse of the people here, I can say with absolute confidence and conviction that the mandate will be in favour of 'Dilli mein 400 paar, Odisha mein BJP Sarkar' (returning to power at the Centre with 400-plus seats and also forming the government in Odisha). The dream of a double-engine government here will be fulfilled."
Reflecting on his political career, the tribal leader said the ongoing Lok Sabha elections will be his last as he wants to pass the baton to the next generation of leaders.
"I have contested eight Lok Sabha elections while also fighting the assembly elections twice. So, I have fought as many as 10 elections. While I do wish to remain in active politics, I don't want to contest elections any more. It takes a lot of hard work to fight elections. Being a senior leader in the party, I am entrusted with a lot of responsibilities. I often wish to be relieved of some of my burden and pass the baton onto the next generation of leaders. I want to leave it (contesting elections) to younger leaders. This will be my last election," Oram said.
The Biju Janata Dal suffered a defeat in the Odisha assembly polls at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party, putting an end to the 24-year-old reign of chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
The Bharatiya Janata Party secured 78 seats in the 147-seat assembly. The BJD secured 51 seats, way behind the majority mark of 74 and the Indian National Congress secured 14 seats.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, also BJP performed well by securing 20 out of the 21 parliamentary seats in the state; the remaining one seat was won by Congress.
Lok Sabha and Assembly polls were held simultaneously in Odisha. (ANI)
