Former Odisha minister Jadunath Das Mohapatra dead

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Aug 21, 2018 at 9:01 PM

Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha Minister and senior Congress leader Jadunath Das Mohapatra passed away at a private hospital here today after a prolonged illness, his family said.

He was 90.

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Mohapatra was the Education Minister in the cabinet of former Chief Minister Janaki Ballav Patnaik in 1985. He had also served as Deputy Finance Minister in 1972 in the cabinet of former Chief Minister Nandini Satpathy.

Mohapatra was first elected to the Odisha Assembly 1971 from his home constituency Soro in Balasore district as an Utkal Congress candidate.

In 1977, Mohapatra was re-elected as Congress MLA from Soro. He also retained his seat in the 1985.

Mohapatra was also a well-known writer and had won the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967 for his book on one-act plays ‘Athaba Andhara’.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik mourned the death of the former minister and expressed sympathies with the bereaved family members. The CM said Jadunath was a clever leader and good writer.