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Bhubaneswar: Brushing aside speculation, Union minister Jual Oram on Wednesday said he was not interested in the post of Chief Minister of Odisha. Oram told this on the sidelines of attending the working committee meet at Panposh in Sundergarh district.
Responding to media queries, Oram said, “I am not interested in CM post. Tomorrow if party decides, then I have to take a call. I don’t think for myself, but my party thinks about me.”
However, by stating that the party high command decides every activity in the party, Oram like his parliamentarian colleague and Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan, too denied keenness in having chief ministerial aspirations.
“In BJP, we work as party workers…we don’t see dreams. Whatever responsibility my party has given me, I am trying my best to deliver it,” Pradhan had told newsmen sometime back on being asked whether the saffron party was projecting him as the CM candidate in the Panchayat Elections. However, party insiders said only the BJP high command will decide about the CM candidate much before the 2019 general elections.
Meanwhile though the party claimed that the district meet was successful, Rourkela BJP legislator Dillip Ray's absence in the gathering raised many eyebrows. On this Oram said, "He (Ray) is busy in his business. But he is with us and works for the party."
Being asked whether a deliberate attempt has been made to malign the legislator, he said, "We don't have any role in CBI probe against Dilip Ray. This is a case which has been continuing since UPA regime."
