TNI Bureau: Former Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly and Ex-Minister Maheswar Mohanty passed away at 3. 25 AM today.

Mohanty breathed his last at the age of 67 while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. He was admitted at the hospital last week after he was reportedly diagnosed with a mild brain stroke.

Mohanty was donpato in Puri in 1957. Before entering politics, Mohanty was a lawyer. He completed his LLB from Utkal University and MA in Political Science from Banaras Hindu University.

Mohanty began his political career as the Chairman of Puri Municipality. He was the Chairman of Puri Municipality from 1985 to 1990 and again between 1992 and 1995.

He had won five times from Puri Assembly Constituency, once on Janata Dal ticket in 1995 and four consecutive times on a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ticket from 2000 to 2019.

Apart from holding several Ministerial posts in the Naveen Patnaik governments, Mohanty was the Speaker of the Odisha Assembly between 2004 and 2008.

Notably, Mohanty sustained bullet injuries on his hand and shoulder after miscreants fired at him on February 21, 2014 near Amala club in Puri when he was the Revenue Minister of Odisha.

Meanwhile, politicians cutting across the party line condoled his death. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also expressed his deep grief over his death and consoled the bereaved family members.