Congress Leader Lulu Mohapatra died at 52 last night at a hospital in Gurugram, Haryana. Congress suffered a major blow in the state Odisha after its three-time MLA Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, 52, passed away following a long bout of liver cirrhosis.
In 2010, A major road accident had affected his liver adversely. Mohapatra, popularly known as Lulu, is survived by his wife and daughter.
Lulu was under treatment for long time and had to be admitted in ICU at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, Haryana last night. Lulu had multiple-organ failure and suffered a stroke soon after.
About Lulu Mohapatra:
He entered Odisha politics as a National Student Union of India(NSUI) leader in late 1980s. He emerged as a henchman of former CM of Odisha J B Patnaik.The father of Mohapatra was a professor of English and was classmate of the former chief minister. The latter, Chief Minister treated Lulu like his son.
He was made state president of NSUI in 1987. Lulu became president of Odisha Youth Congress in 1996. He was MLA from Brahmagiri assembly constituency of Puri between 1995 and 2009 till he was unseated by BJD leader Sanjay Dasverma.
Since last year, he engineered “egg attack” on BJD ministers, including CM Naveen Patnaik. Last year his supporters attacked the CM’s convoy with eggs when he was on his way to attend a function at Bhubaneswar’s Utkal University. The incident was followed by several such egg attacks on BJD ministers Atanu Sabyasachi, Pushpendra Singhdeo and Sanjay Dasverma.
Condolences on his demise poured in from CM Patnaik, union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad, AICC General Secretary in charge of Odisha B K Hariprasad, OPCC President Harichandan, Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, and several other leaders. The body of Lulu Mohapatra would be flown in to Bhubaneswar, Odisha this morning. After this, it would be taken to his native village Gada Rodanga in Puri, Odisha for cremation.
