BJD Vice-President kalindi Charan Behera passed away

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Vice-President Kalindi Charan Behera passed away on 18 February 2015 at Bhubaneswar following a brief illness. He was 71. Behera is survived by his wife, two daughters and two sons.

Behera began his career as a professor at BJB College, Bhubaneswar before taking the plunge into politics. He was also a writer of repute and took a keen interest in socio-cultural affairs. In 1990s, he wrote a hagiography of Biju Patnaik called Kalingara Baraputra.

Kalindi Charan Behera was elected to the Odisha State Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1977 when he won from Salepur constituency as a Janata Party candidate.

Later, he represented the same seat thrice, once as a Janata Dal candidate in 1990 and then as a BJD candidate in 2000 and 2004. In 2009, he was elected from the Cuttack Sadar constituency on a BJD ticket.

He had also held several important portfolios in the state Council of Ministers, first under the late Chief Minister of Odhisa Biju Patnaik and then under the current CM of Odhisa Naveen Patnaik.