Senior BJD leader and former Odisha Assembly speaker Maheswar Mohanty died at a private hospital here on Tuesday.
Mohanty, who was also a former minister, was 67. He is survived by his wife and two sons.
He was admitted to the hospital on November 1 after suffering a cerebral stroke, and died at 3.25 am on Tuesday, hospital sources said.
Mohanty was elected to the Odisha Assembly from the Puri constituency five times. He had successfully contested the assembly elections as a Janata Dal candidate in 1995 and as a BJD nominee in 2000, 2004, 2009 and 2014.
Born on February 26, 1956, Mohanty had also served in the Naveen Patnaik government as a cabinet minister and had held portfolios such as Panchayati Raj, Revenue, Law and Tourism departments between 2011 and 2019.
Also Read: Naveen Patnaik rates Modi government a€？8 out of 10a€？, hails steps taken to a€？eradicate corruptiona€？
He was the speaker of the assembly from 2004 to 2008.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik condoled Mohanty's death and described him as a a€？popular leader with high organisational skills".
He played an important role in the development of Puri as an MLA and minister, Patnaik added.
Milestone Alert!
Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world e？？？ Click here to know more.
Related Premium Stories
Five things to watch for in these Assembly polls
Mint Explainer: India abstains from UN vote on Israel-Gaza conflict. Why?
Kerala blasts: Understanding the mysterious sect called Jehovaha€？s Witnesses
Mint Explainer: Decoding India's reaction to Qatar's death sentence to 8 Indians
De-escalation of Israel-Hamas conflict in India's interest, says former diplomat
Mint Explainer: Demystifying the electoral bonds scheme
Mint Explainer: Likely fallout of an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza
In charts: Story of polls, freebies and politics
Mint Explainer: Pro-China Muizzu wins in Maldives. What does it mean for India?
In charts: Unlocking India's soft power potential
Explore Premium
Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
More Less
Updated: 07 Nov 2023, 10:09 AM IST