Former Chief Minister of Odisha Hemanand Biswal passed away last night. He was undergoing treatment in a private hospital in capital Bhubaneswar. He was 82. He was the Chief Minister of the state for two brief terms from 1989 and from 1999. He was elected to the state assembly for six times while in 2009 he was elected to the Parliament from the Sundargarh constituency.
Many
dignitaries including the Prime Minister have condoled his demise. In a condolence message, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Biswal was active in public life for many years and worked extensively among the people. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have also expressed their grief over the passing away of the former Chief Minister.