Senior BJP leader from Odisha Jual Oram followed his wife’s advice to skip the swearing-in ceremony for the NDA-II government in New Delhi.
The former Union Tribal Affairs minister was hurt at not being included in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new cabinet. “I felt hurt. I am also a human being with blood and flesh,” the five-term MP said at a felicitation function in Rourkela on Wednesday.
“I had gone (to New Delhi) with my wife. I asked her if we should attend the oath-taking ceremony. She did not want to go, saying she felt unwell. So, we both stayed back,” he added.
This was a volte-face to his statement on May 30. “I had the opportunity to become a Union minister in the previous ministry and some other leader will have the opportunity this time. This is the sign of a healthy democratic tradition,” he had told reporters in Delhi then.
