Odisha's Pratap Chandra Sarangi who campaigned in bicycle gets ministry in Modi government 2.0
New Delhi, May 31 (IBNS): A loud cheer from the audience came when Odisha's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi, who campaigned in the Lok Sabha polls in bicycle, walked up the stage to take oath as a minister of the second Narendra Modi government.
Sarangi, 64, defeated two richest candidates in Odisha to make his way to the parliament. He triumphed over outgoing Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Rabindra Jena and Congress' Niranjan Patnaik. While Jena's assets are worth Rs. 72 crore, Patnaik declared assets of Rs. 104 crore.
On the contrary, Sarangi, an activist and a former BJP MLA from Odisha, has movable assets worth Rs. 1.5 lakh and immovable assets of Rs. 15 lakh.
With an unkempt hair, beard and a simple look, Sarangi took oath as the 56th minister on Thursday. In total, 58 ministers including Prime Minister Narendra Modi sworn in at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Born in Balasore, which is now his parliamentary constituency also, Sarangi completed his Bachelor's degree from Fakir Mohan College under Utkal University in 1975.
Image Credit: twitter.com/BJP4Odisha
Being a spiritual seeker, he went to Belur Math in West Bengal. But after coming to know about his widowed mother, the monks of the Math asked him to go back and serve her.
In one of his recent interviews, Sarangi reportedly divulged that he is "unmarried" but not a "celibate".
Prior to becoming an MP, the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Minister of State (MoS) was elected as the MLA from his own state in 2004 and 2009. Both the years, he was elected from Odisha's Nilagiri constituency.
Sarangi is one of the eight BJP MPs won from Odisha in the 2019 General Elections.
Image Credit: twitter.com/BJP4Odisha
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