TNI Bureau: Senior BJP leader and renowned poet Sankarsan Parida breathed his last on Thursday while undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Parida was suffering from lung cancer and was undergoing treatment at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar. He had earlier returned from Mumbai after undergoing treatment for cancer.

Parida had served as President of the Puri Zilla Parishad and Chairperson of the Orissa State Panchayat Parishad, and he had held both positions from 2007 to March 2012. He was a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

As a Social Activist, he engages in active politics as a means of serving the people.