BJD’s Brajarajnagar MLA Kishore Mohanty died following heart attack on Thursday. He was 63. As per reports, Mohanty fell sick during a condolence meeting in the evening. He was shifted to a private hospital in Jharsuguda where he breathed his last during treatment.
A veteran leader from Western Odisha, Mohanty was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly thrice from Jharsuguda assembly constituency and won the Brajarajnagar assembly seat in the 2019 elections. He was first elected as MLA in 1990.
Though Mohanty was earlier representing the Jharsuguda assembly constituency, he was moved to Brajarajnagar to make way for senior Congress leader Naba Das who joined the BJD before the 2019 assembly elections.
The senior leader from the ruling BJD had held the post of Speaker of Odisha Assembly and also held several key posts including the government chief whip from 2004 to 2008. He was also elected to the Rajya Sabha (2009-2012).
In his long illustrious political career, Mohanty was considered to be soft spoken and often played a crucial role in countering the Opposition attack for the party. Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed grief over Mohanty’s sudden demise.
“Deeply shocked to hear about the death of former Odisha Assembly Speaker and Brajarajnagar MLA Kishore Mohanty. He was an outstanding leader and will be remembered for his works as an elected representative,” the CM tweeted.
"Saddened to learn of the untimely passing of former Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly & MLA from Brajarajnagar, Shri Kishore Kumar Mohanty," tweeted BJP National Vice-President Baijayant Jay Panda.
Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan also took to Twitter and expressed condolences on the demise of Mohanty.