ROURKELA: Denied a Cabinet berth in Narendra Modi-led BJP Government at the Centre, Sundargarh Lok Sabha member Jual Oram seems to have come to terms with his exclusion and hinted at shouldering organisational responsibility. Talking to this paper, the two-time Union Tribal Affairs Minister said, “as a human being, I got carried away to some extent. When expectation failed, I felt bad, that’s all. I was ready to attend oath-taking ceremony of Modi Government 2.0 but, my wife said she was very upset and both of us stayed away.”
Jual reiterated that giving ministerial berth is a prerogative of the Prime Minister. Having served as Union Minister twice, Jual said he is happy that two ministers at the Centre are from Odisha. He said, “I feel more comfortable in shouldering organisational responsibility than running Ministry.”
Jual had served as BJP’s national secretary and twice as national vice-president. He was also Odisha BJP president for three tenures and won twice as Bonai MLA and five times as Sundargarh Lok Sabha member.
After his fifth victory with a huge margin of 2.23 lakh votes, Jual, a grass-root leader, was kept out of Narendra Modi Government in its second term, although he headed the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in the first Modi Government in 2014. In 1999, Prime Minister AB Vajpayee had created MTA of which Jual had become its first Cabinet Minister.