Kalpataru Das had been ailing for some time and had been admitted to AIIMS.
Kalpataru Das, Rajya Sabha MP who fell from grace of chief minister Naven Patnaik last year over his family’s involvement in land grabbing incident last year, passed away today at New Delhi after a brief illness. He was 65 and is survived by his wife and three sons.
Das had been ailing for some time and had been admitted to AIIMS on Monday after his condition became critical. The senior BJD leader was first admitted to a hospital in Gurgaon in April this year after bleeding from his nose. A nasal endoscopy had revealed a small tumour between the forehead and inner nasal cavity following which he underwent chemotherapy.
The mortal remains of senior BJD leader and Rajya Sabha member Kalpataru Das arrived at the Biju Patmaik Airport in the Odisha capital from New Delhi this morning.
The body was later taken to the BJD state party office where several party leaders and workers had a last glimpse of the departed soul.
From the BJD office the body was taken to Das’s residence in Bhubaneswar where chief minister Naveen Patnaik laid wreaths on the mortal remains.
The body was taken to the State Assembly where it was given the Guard of Honour.
The body later left for Bhotaka village in Jajpur district, the native place of Das, where his last rites would be performed with full state honour in the afternoon.
Afflicted by cancer, Das was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on July 20. But his condition began to deteriorate further and he passed away on Saturday afternoon.
Several political leaders including chief minister Naveen Patnaik have deeply condoled the untimely death of Das.