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Who is Jual Oram?
Jual Oram is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader representing Sundargarh (Scheduled Tribe) Lok Sabha constituency of Odisha in the Parliament. He is currently serving as the Minister of Tribal Affairs.
He has served as the president of BJP in the state of Odisha for over four years. He is now the vice-president of the BJP.
Early life
Oram was born on March 22, 1961 into a tribal family in a village of Kendudihi, Sundergarh district, Orissa (present-day Odisha). He received a diploma in Electrical Engineering from Utkalmani Gopabandhu Institute of Engineering.
Before entering politics, he worked as an assistant foreman in Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).
Political journey
Oram joined BJP in 1989. He was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Bonai constituency in the following year and served for two terms until 1998. In 1998, Oram was elected to the Lok Sabha from Sundargarh constituency.
After Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee created the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, he was sworn as its first ever minister.
In 2004, Oram was re-elected as party president for the state unit and served for two years. On 17 May of the same year, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha for the third time from his constituency. From 2006 to 2009, he served as the party's national vice-president.
Oram lost from his Sundargarh in 2009.
In May 2014, Oram was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the Sundargarh constituency.