Former Odisha octogenarian legislator pedals for miles to stay fit

Bhadrak: Age is not a hurdle for this former octogenarian legislator in Odisha  who is pedaling for miles to stay fit at old age.

While COVID-19 pandemic has paralysed entire world, the 84-year-old Gangadhar Das is maintaining his healthy lifestyle by cycling for kilometers twice from his home to a local market everyday.

Wearing a face mask as part of following COVID-19 rules, he pedals around 6 km from his village Kanpada to a market in Tihidi in the morning. He turns different newspaper pages for various news updates and returns to home with essential household articles. Again, he cycles to the market in the evening and spends quality time with his friends.

Even after entering into old age, the former MLA seems very active in his daily life and sets an example for his contemporaries through his fitness mantra.

Das, who had joined an active politics after quitting teachership as his profession, was elected twice to the State Legislative Assembly from Chandbali seat. He had won the seat in the year 1971 on a Congress ticket. He retained the seat by fighting the poll as the Janata Dal candidate in 1977.

During his tenure as the legislator, various developmental projects including a canal excavation work was taken up in Tihidi block. Beside, two English-medium schools at Kanpada village, a government-run girls’ high school and a college were established in Tihidi by his efforts.