ROURKELA: Union Tribal Affairs Minister and Sundargarh MP Jual Oram’s outburst against his detractors and his Rourkela representative Prakash Paswan’s alleged involvement in the Circuit House case have charged up the political atmosphere in the tribal-dominated district.
A day after the Congress demanded Jual’s resignation, members of the Oram Samaj Yuva Manch (OSYM) on Monday took out an impressive rally demanding action against those running a smear campaign on social media to defame the Union minister. Oram is one of the dominant tribal communities in Sundargarh.
Participating in the rally, former BJP MLA of Birmitrapur Shankar Oram said Jual in his 35 years of electoral politics has done enough for upliftment of the Oram tribe. “We demand that Rourkela police to take action against those engaging in smear campaign to damage the image and reputation of the Union minister,” he said.
Members of the Oram community from Panposh sub-division participated in the rally. Earlier, BJP factions in Sundargarh, Rourkela and Bonai had come out in support of Jual.
On Sunday, members of Rourkela youth Congress burnt the effigy of Jual at Uditnagar seeking his resignation. They demanded transparent and effective investigation in the Circuit House case, adding Jual’s outburst was testimony of the ‘goondaraj’ run by him in Sundargarh district.
As if Paswan’s arrest for allegedly harbouring criminals in the state-managed Circuit House was not enough, the parallel social media campaign against Jual’s district representative Khusboo Yadav has left the Union minister in a tricky station.
Talking to mediapersons on August 28, Jual had surprised many with his choice of words for his detractors, who he said, were trying to defame him. He alleged that some people who entered BJP from other parties were spending money to destabilise him with false propaganda on social media. He said they wanted to get him dropped from the Ministry. Jual went on to warn that he had the capacity to chop off the hands of those trying to discredit his reputation.
Meanwhile, the BJP in Rourkela appears to have split into two powerful factions over Jual’s two controversial representatives - one led by the Union minister and the other of Rajya Sabha Member Dilip Ray. The third faction of RN Pali BJP MLA DC Tanti is largely neutral.
Amid opposition and support to Jual, the BJP organisation in Sundargarh district seems to be divided and confused.