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March 20, 1998

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ELECTIONS '96

Dr Minister

Debendra Pradhan, minister of state and first-timer in Parliament, took to active politics after serving the medical profession for nearly two decades.

An MBBS degree holder from the SCB medical college and hospital in Cuttack, Dr Pradhan first joined as a medical officer. Later, he concentrated on his medical practice in Talcher, Orissa, from where he joined the BJP.

He was president of the BJP's Talcher division from 1981 to 1985, and then Dhenkanal district president from 1985 to 1987. Three years later, Dr Pradhan became the BJP's Orissa president, which post he held till 1996.

Dr Pradhan unsuccessfully contested the Deogarh Lok Sabha seat in the 1984, 1991 and 1996 elections on a BJP ticket.

He can be credited for the party's spectacular growth in the state. He took charge as the BJP's second state president, from B Harichandan, when the party was almost a nonentity in the state.

UNI

Elections '98

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