Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra passes away

Senior Congress leader and three-time legislator Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra passed away at a private hospital in Gurugram on Sunday night. He was 52, and is survived by his wife and a daughter.

Popularly called Lulu Mohapatra, he had been undergoing treatment at Medanta Hospital for the past few weeks. The end came at 10.30 p.m. on Sunday following multiple organ failure, family sources said.

The charismatic leader who was popular among the youth across Odisha since his student days was elected from Brahmagiri Assembly constituency in Puri district 1995, 2000 and 2004.

Mohapatra, who headed the students’ wing and youth wing of Congress in Odisha in the past, also worked as a working president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) in 2009 when K. P. Singh Deo headed the party in the State.

The body of Mohapatra is being brought to Bhubaneswar from New Delhi, and will be taken to Congress Bhavan, Utkal University and the State Assembly. The cremation is scheduled to be held at his native place in Puri on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, OPCC president Prasad Harichandan and many senior leaders have mourned the untimely demise of Mohapatra.