Former Odisha MLA Prahlad Behera Passes Away At 88

Bhubaneswar: After battling a prolonged illness, former MLA of Phulbani, Prahlad Behera passed away while undergoing treatment at VIMSAR Hospital in Burla, Sambalpur on Monday. He was 88.

Prahlad, who was suffering from paralysis and diabetes, was admitted to the hospital a few days back. He breathed his last at around 4.30 AM today.

A resident of Harabhanga in Boudh district, Behera started his career as a driver. During former Prime Minister Lal BahadurShastri’s Odisha visit, Behera had steered him to Puri in his car. Later, the then Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik recruited him as his driver.

After learning that Prahlad had an interest in politics and public affairs, Biju Patnaik once asked him to address a public gathering. Impressed by his oratory skills, Patnaik asked Prahlad to join politics. Contesting the polls on a Janata Party ticket from the Phulbani Assembly seat in 1977, Prahlad went on winning the elections and served people of the constituency for the next three years.

Also Read: Biju Patnaik’s Driver & Former Phulbani MLA Now Faces Hardship

In August last year, OTV had a telecast a report on the plight of Prahlad Behera who was leading a life in abandonment in a kutcha house in Harbhanga along with his son, Rudra Pratap Behera.

Rudra Pratap then had narrated that his father was getting a pension of Rs 15,000 and it was not enough to meet the expenses of treatment and medicines.

https://youtu.be/15_h134wsjg