Leaders cutting across party lines on Monday paid tributes to former Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra who passed away at a Mumbai hospital on Sunday night.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Ministers Jual Oram, Suresh Prabhu and Dharmendra Pradhan, many Ministers of the State and people from different walks of life paid their last respects to the departed leader at the airport as well as his house in the city.
As the mortal remains of Mohapatra arrived here, Mr. Patnaik reached the Biju Patnaik International Airport, and paid floral tributes and placed a wreath on the body.
The late leader had created a niche for himself in Odisha politics through his organisational skills and political acumen, said Mr. Patnaik.
“I am distressed at the passing away of former MP Pyarimohan Mohapatra. He had a distinguished career as a civil servant and is known for his hard work and calibre. Later, he came to politics and became an MP. In politics too he has proved his mettle,” said Mr. Patnaik in a message.
Chanakya of Odisha
Mahapatra, who transformed the BJD into a strong regional party, was president of the Odisha Jana Morcha, the party he founded in 2013 in the aftermath of his expulsion from the BJD.
He was dubbed as the Chanakya of Odisha politics for his decade-long nursing of the party.
It is a different matter that Mr. Patnaik had dubbed Mohapatra a “traitor” while announcing the latter’s suspension from the BJD in June 2012 for making a failed coup against his government on May 29 that year when Mr. Patnaik was in the UK.
