BHUBANESWAR: In the tragic death of Health minister Naba Kishore Das, Odisha politics has lost a stalwart.One of the richest ministers in the Naveen Patnaik cabinet, Das was a heavyweight in western Odisha politics, who had made electoral victory a habit during his more than a two-decade-long political career.
The untimely death of Das, ahead of the 2024 elections, has created a void which the BJD will find difficult to fill. Though he represented Jharsuguda, his influence stretched beyond the seat to several other districts of the region.
What set Das apart from other political leaders was his organisational capacity for which he was known from his student days. Considered an expert in electoral strategy, Das was given difficult assignments to see the party through. The BJD victory in the recent Padampur bypoll was a case in point, where he proved his mettle in wresting the seat from the BJP. He was also instrumental in the romping victory of BJD in the Brajarajnagar by-election earlier last year.
Born on January 7, 1962, Das completed his post-graduation in English and also obtained his law degree. Though, he was drawn to politics and was quite active in student politics. He graduated to mainstream politics in later years by making Jharsuguda his base. Except for initial hiccups in 2004, when he lost the Assembly election from Jharsuguda as a Congress candidate to veteran BJD leader Kishore Mohanty, he never looked back.
Das made his debut in the state Assembly from Jharsuguda seat in 2009 on a Congress ticket by defeating Mohanty, his rival in Jharsuguda politics. In 2014 election also, Das defeated Mohanty. Simultaneously, his stock rose in the grand old party when he was appointed as the working president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) in April, 2018. He was assigned the task of organisational revival of the party in the entire western Odisha districts.
However, he joined BJD before the 2019 election as chances of Congress regaining its position in the state became remote. Such was his influence that he contested the 2019 Assembly election on a BJD ticket from Jharsuguda seat and Mohanty had to be shifted from Jharsuguda to Brajrajnagar constituency to accommodate him. After winning the election, Das was sworn in as the Health and Family Welfare Minister and was continuing in his post till date. He had successfully steered the crucial Health department during the difficult Covid-19 pandemic years.
One of the wealthiest politicians in the state, the minister had declared moveable and immovable property and assets to the tune of Rs 34 crore. He owned 80 vehicles including luxury cars like a Mercedes Benz valued at Rs 1.14 crore. His wife owns 65 vehicles. These apart, the minister had also declared three firearms - a revolver, a rifle and a double barrel gun.
Controversies followed Das too, but he came out of them all unscathed. Recently he made a big buzz after he donated a ‘Kalash’ worth over Rs 1 crore to Maharashtra’s Shani Shingnapur temple, which was made of 1.17 kg of gold and 5 kg of silver.