Veteran politician and former Finance Minister of Odisha, Ramakrushna Patnaik, passed away after a prolonged illness at his Bhubaneswar residence on Friday morning.
The former minister breathed his last at 9:30 am, his daughter Anita Subhadarshini informed.
As per reports, his mortal remains will be taken to Swargadwara in Puri where his last rites will be conducted and he will be consigned to flames.
Patnaik was six times elected to the Legislative Assembly of which four times he had won from Kodala constituency in Ganjam on Janata Party ticket, Janata Dal and Biju Janata Dal in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000.
In his first term as MLA in 1971, he was appointed as the Health Minister of the State.
In 1998, he was the Leader of Opposition (LoP) during the tenure of Janaki Ballabh Patnaik as the CM.
He was appointed as the Finance Minister from 2000 to 2002 during Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's first term.
He was popularly termed as Ganjam Tiger as he was a strong leader from the region. Patnaik was among the trusted leaders of former CM Biju Patnaik.
Patnaik had an influencing political journey and had engraved several milestones throughout his career.
A pal of gloom has descended in the district following the huge loss in the State politics.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan condoled the demise of the veteran leader and said Odisha lost an experienced politician and a skilled man.
BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda wrote, "Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of senior Odisha BJP leader Shri Ramakrushna Patnaik. He had a storied career & held many important positions, including finance minister of the state. I fondly recall his affection & guidance in my early years in public life. Om Shanti."