By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, April 21, 2015 :

Former Odisha chief minister and senior Congress leader Janaki Ballav Patnaik passed away at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh in the wee hours on Tuesday.

His mortal remains would be flown to the state capital here in the afternoon. The cremation will take place at Swargadwar in Puri tomorrow, family sources said.

The 89 year old three time chief minister was 89 and is survived by his wife Jayanti, son Pruthvi and daughters Sudatta and Supriya.

Patnaik was in Tirupati to attend the convocation of Tirupati Rashtriya Sanskruta University, of which he was the Chancellor, as the chief guest.

The veteran Congress leader felt severe pain in the chest on Monday late night and was admitted to Shri Venkateswar Institute of Medical Sciences, a private hospital, where he passed away at about 3 am to-day.

Born on January 3, 1927 at Rameswar village in Khordha district, Patnaik was the chief minister for two consecutive terms from 1980 to 1989 and then again from 1995 to 1999.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1971 and became a union minister in the Indira Gandhi government. Later Prime Minister Indira Gandhi chose him to head the state in 1980 when he was the civil aviation miniser.

He was among the few Governors appointed by the UPA government, who were allowed to complete their full term by the NDA government led by Narendra Modi government.

The other side of Patnaik’s personality is his flair for writing as a litterateur and a journalist. He won many literary awards including the Central Sahitya Akademi for his Odia translation of Bankim Chandra’s novels titled ‘Bankim Chandra Upanyasmala’ in 2001 and the Odisha Sahitya Akademi award for his book ‘Bairagya Shataka’, a translation of Bhartruhari’s celebrated Sanskrit work, in 1996.

Leaders cutting across political parties have expressed profound grief over the sad demise of the Patnaik. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was scheduled to attend the Akshaya Trutiya in Puri, has cancelled his programme following the death of Patnaik.

As a mark of respect, the state government has declared Tuesday as a state holiday and a seven-day state mourning.

Hundreds of people are eagerly waiting at his residence here for paying homage to the astute leader.