Bhubaneswar, Nov 07: Maheswar Mohanty, a former Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly and a Minister in Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s Cabinet, passed away at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. He was 67 years old.
Mohanty had been undergoing treatment at the hospital since October 31 when he suddenly fell ill. Although there were reports of a mild brain stroke diagnosis, his son Sunil Mohanty denied any such ailment.
A lawyer by profession, Maheswar Mohanty obtained his LLB from Utkal University and an MA in Political Science from Banaras Hindu University.
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Mohanty served as the Speaker of the Odisha Assembly from 2004 to 2008. He was elected five times from the Puri Assembly Constituency, once as a Janata Dal candidate and four consecutive times as a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate. He also held positions in various non-political organizations and served as the Chairman of Puri Municipality.
Condolences poured in from various quarters following his demise. Baijayant Panda, the National Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), expressed his condolences on social media.
Maheswar Mohanty survived an attack by miscreants on February 21, 2014, near Amala club in Puri when he was the Revenue Minister of Odisha. During the attack, he sustained bullet injuries to his hand and shoulder.
