Former Deputy Speaker Bibhuti Bhusan Mardaraj Passes Away

Bhubaneswar: The former deputy Speaker Bibhuti Bhusan Mardaraj passed away on Wednesday night. He died of prolonged illness at the age of 70.

He was suffering from heart related diseases and was under treatment at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar when he passed away.

He was the King of Khandapada Gada. The regal blood was regal in the true sense. He was elected to the Vidhan Sabha in 1980, 1985 and in 1995 and served as the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Khandapada constituency.

He also served as a Cabinet Minister and the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly in Odisha. He was a veteran leader of the Congress Party in Odisha.

A few days ago, on August 4, retired Odisha Chief Secretary Subas Pani passed away. He is survived by his wife and 2 daughters Sanhati Pani and Samprati Pani. Reportedly, his cremation will be held in Satyanagar crematorium in Bhubaneswar at about 12:30 pm today.

Subas Pani (born 17 February, 1949) graduated with honours in English. He has a PhD on Jayadeva’s Sri Geetagovinda. He had a distinguished career as a civil servant in the Indian Administrative Service. He was 1972 batch IAS officer.

Dr Pani was the Chief Secretary of Government of Odisha. He also held key positions like Deputy Election Commissioner, ECI and Secretary in several departments. These departments include Rural Development & Land Resources, and Planning Commission in Government of India.