Senior Congress leader and former president of Odisha Pradesh Mahila Congress (OPMC) Ashima Mahananda died of cancer on Wednesday. She was undergoing treatment at Hemalata Hospital in Bhubaneswar for past few months. Mahananda passed away at 8.40 am. She was 52.

Mahananda was a member of three-member team to investigate the gangrape of an Odia woman in New Delhi. In October 2011, she was appointed as the Secretary of All India Mahila Congress (AIMC).

Senior leaders of all the political parties including Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Jayadev Jena, BJP’s state unit president KV Singhdeo, BJP leaders Sanchita Mohanty, Surama Padhi Prabhati Parida and Sajjan Sharma condoled the death of Mahananda.