BHUBANESWAR:Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, senior ministers and leaders cutting across partylines on Friday paid rich tributes to Kandhamal MP Hemendra Singh, who died in a private hospital here late Thursday night.
Expressing grief over the untimely demise of 47-year-old Singh, the Chief Minister said his death is a great loss to the party and State. Though it was his first term in the Parliament, he was holding infinite promise to do very good work, he added.
Describing Singh as an emerging talent, School and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra said his death will be a tremendous loss for the people of Nayagarh.
President of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Jaydev Jena said Odisha has lost a young leader while senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik described him as a rising star from whom the State expected a lot.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh, Finance Minister Pradip Amat, Rural Development Minister Badri Narayan Patra, Minister of State for Panchayatiraj Arun Sahu, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Rajya Sabha member Bhupinder Singh and several other leaders expressed grief over Singh’s untimely demise.