Rourkela, May 18: “If they tell me, I won’t turn it down,” said BJP heavyweight Jual Oram, who is seeking re-election from Sundergarh Lok Sabha seat on Saturday amid his name doing rounds for the Chief Minister post if BJP wins in the State.
“If they tell me, I won’t turn it down. But I have no such desire. There are so many capable people like me who can be the CM. But we will follow what the party will decide,” said Oram to ANI.
He said, “There is no democracy in Odisha. There is the rule of bureaucracy here. The Chief Minister is ineffective. His health is failing. But he is not giving an alternative. VK Pandian is roaming around, but he doesn’t listen to Ministers. In a way, this is an autocracy, a dictatorship. Their expiry date is for 4th June.”
“I have contested Lok Sabha elections eight times and Assembly elections two times. So, I have contested elections 10 times. I will remain active in politics but I don’t want to contest elections anymore. It takes a lot of hard work to contest elections. Since I am a senior leader, I am given a lot of responsibilities. So, I get overburdened. I want to leave it (elections) to the young generation. So, this is my last election,” added the veteran tribal leader.
