Oram-Ray proxy war may prove costly for BJP
The escalating proxy war between supporters of Rourkela MLA Dilip Ray and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram does not augur well for the BJP with the general elections less than
Published: 11th July 2018 02:04 AM | Last Updated: 11th July 2018 04:32 AM | A+A A-
Jual Oram and Dilip Ray during a closed-door meeting in May this year
ROURKELA: The escalating proxy war between supporters of Rourkela MLA Dilip Ray and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram does not augur well for the BJP with the general elections less than a year away.Knives are out for the Union Minister after a group of Ray’s supporters burnt his effigies for giving Muktikanta Biswal, the youth who walked to New Delhi to remind Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his promises, a cold shoulder. Ray has also voiced his support for Muktikanta.
So far, Oram has refrained from speaking out against Ray and even tried to make peace with the BJP MLA by holding a secret meeting with him recently. However, with the seemingly non-supportive ministers of the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre delaying many economic and infrastructure projects in Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituency, Oram finds himself on a sticky wicket. Since May 2016, Ray has been vocal about his displeasure over the inordinate delay in upgradation of SAIL’s Ispat General Hospital (IGH) into a Super Speciality Hospital and construction of second Brahmani bridge at Rourkela. Both the projects were promised and officially announced by PM Modi in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Taking a stand of ‘Aage Mati, Pare Party’ (motherland first, party later), Ray had unsuccessfully met the PM and BJP ministers concerned over the two projects several times in the past.For his rebellious ways, Ray has also come under criticism from BJP leaders. During the foundation laying ceremony of second Brahmani bridge on July 21 last year, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had launched a mild attack on Ray over several points in presence of Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Oram.
While Oram continues to defend the BJP Government, the delayed projects at Rourkela and a few others in Biramitrapur Assembly segment might have a bearing on his prospects in 2019 elections. Oram had won the 2014 polls with huge margins from Rourkela and Biramitrapur segments after trailing in the rest five constituencies.
On the other hand, Ray has little to lose as he has hinted at not contesting the elections.
State BJP secretary Dhiren Senapati said Ray’s repeated ‘insults’ to the PM on the bridge issue would not be tolerated by BJP workers. Ray should instead blame the BJD Government in Odisha for delaying the bridge project on land and forest issues, Senapati added.
