leaders cutting across party lines paid rich tribute to former Chief Minister, former Central Minister and former Assam Governor Janaki Ballabh Patnaik on his death. local MlA Dr Raseswari Panigrahi in a message said that the State as well as the entire nation lost an astute politician. Former Minister Prasanna Acharya said, “A politician apart, JB got tremendous mastery over Odia and Sanskrit language and literature.”
Former State BJP president Suresh Pujari narrated JB as a compassionate politician. “He had equal respect for all people and political leaders, even of Opposition parties,” said Pujari. Congress leaders and workers gathered in the party office near the Government bus stand and offered floral tribute in the photograph of the departed leader. They narrated the death of Patnaik as a great loss to the nation. Sureswar Mishra, Jayashankar Mishra, Bhagabat Prasad Nanda, former MlAs Durjyodhan Gardia and Aswini Guru, working president of the party’s district unit Surekha Sahu and Asaf Ali Khan mourned the death of JB.