Senior Odisha Congress Leader Sriballav Panigrahi Passes Away

09 July, Bhubaneswar

Senior Congress leader and former Odisha MP Sriballav Panigrahi passed away in a private hospital in Bengaluru Thursday this morning. He was 74 and is survived by his wife Sunanda Panigrahi and two sons.

He was born on 2nd September, 1940 in a freedom fighter’s family at Bargaon in Sambalpur district.

He was elected as a Member of Odisha Assembly in 1971 and 1974 from Sambalpur Assembly constituency.

He was the youngest Cabinet minister at the age of 33 in the Nandini Satpathy government in Odisha. Panigrahi was also elected as the Member of Parliament from Deogarh Lok Sabha constituency in 1984, 1991 and 1996.

Besides, he was associated with several trade union activities, educational, social, cultural and spiritual organizations.

The body of Panigrahi will be brought to the Congress Bhawan in Bhubaneswar from Bengaluru. Later it will be taken to Sambalpur where his mortal remains will be consigned to flames tomorrow, Friday. Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik and several other political leaders have condoled the death of Panigrahi.