SAMBALPUR: Sarvodaya leader and noted social worker Bhagbat Prasad Nanda passed away at his residence in Budharaja here after prolonged illness on Thursday evening. He was 83. Born on December 14, 1937 at Balangir, Nanda was the president of Odisha Sarvodaya Parishad and had joined the Bhoodan Padayatra led by Acharya Harihar Das in 1959.
He later joined the Sarvodaya movement after completing his graduation. While studying law in Cuttack, he became a Gandhi Tatwa Pracharaka under Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi in 1962. He also accompanied Vinoba Bhave during his Odisha Padayatra in 1963.
Nanda later joined Indian National Congress and served as the secretary of labour cell of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC). He served as political special assistant of former Odisha Chief Minister Nandini Satpathy from 1974 to 1976. He was also General Secretary of OPCC. The veteran leader also worked as a journalist in a vernacular daily in Sambalpur from 1981 to 1990. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
