BHUBANESWAR: Veteran leader and former MLA Arun Dey passed away on Monday at a private hospital here. The 75-year-old politician was being treated for post-Covid complications. The five-time MLA had started his political career from 1971 in CPI and resigned from the party in 1994. He had won from Balasore Assembly constituency on CPI ticket in 1974, 1980 and 1990. He won as an independent from the constituency in 1995 and from Odisha Gana Parishad in 2004. Dey was known for in-depth discussion in the Assembly on any important issue. Though he was never in any government position, senior leaders from across political parties used to approach him for advice on different subjects.
He had last contested assembly election from Balasore in 2014 on a Congress ticket unsuccessfully. He had joined the BJD for only 10 days. He left the party ahead of the polls and joined Congress. Dey had also contested 2009 Lok Sabha polls unsuccessfully on a NCP ticket from Balasore seat. Governor Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, former Union Minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi, BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda and OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik deeply condoled his death.