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Odisha Health Minister Naba Das, shot at by policeman, succumbs to bullet wounds

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has expressed deep shock and distress over the unfortunate death of Naba Das. An Odisha CMO statement quoted Patnaik as terming the late Biju Janata Dal leader as an asset for both the state government and the party. 

Odisha Health Minister Naba Das, shot at by policeman, succumbs to bullet wounds
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First Published Jan 29, 2023, 8:25 PM IST

Odisha Health Minister Naba Das, who was shot at by a police officer in Jharsuguda district on Sunday, has succumbed to the bullet injuries. 

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has expressed deep shock and distress over the unfortunate death of Naba Das. An Odisha CMO statement quoted Patnaik as terming the late Biju Janata Dal leader as an asset for both the state government and the party. His death is a great loss to the State of Odisha, he said. Das is survived by wife Minati Das, and a son and a daughter. The 60-year-old breathed his last at the Apollo hospital. 

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Hailing from the mining town of Jharsugada, Das was believed to be one of the richest members of Patnaik's cabinet. According to a property statement filed in 2022, Das had properties worth Rs 34 crore. The politician was believed to have owned around 80 vehicles and massive real estate holdings.

Das joined the BJD in 2019 after holding the fort for the Congress against Patnaik for nearly two decades and scoring electoral battles against BJD candidates.

The law graduate rose steadily through the Congress party ranks, starting off as the Students' Union president at one of the oldest colleges in western Odisha, Gangadhar Meher College, at Sambalpur. He went on to become vice-president of the Odisha unit of the Congress-backed National Students Union of India and the Odisha Youth Congress before becoming an Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee member. He was one of the working presidents of the OPCC.

Das defeated BJD candidate Kishore Kumar Mohanty in 2014. Five years later, he joined hands with his party's arch-rival Patnaik citing demands from his constituents to do so.

The leader from western Odisha leader was known for his organisational skill, something that was on display at the recent Padampur by-polls where despite the prediction of a neck-to-neck fight, the BJD candidate won by a handsome over 42,000 votes.

Das was considered a close confidant of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. So much so that he continued in his minister of health and family welfare portfolio even when the chief minister overhauled his cabinet last June.

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