Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha minister and veteran BJD leader Damodar Rout passed away while undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar in the wee hours of Friday. He was 82.
Rout’s body will be taken to his government residence at Unit-VI in Bhubaneswar today for his supporters to pay their last respects to the departed leader.
Rout fell seriously ill after suffering a massive heart attack on March 18 and was later declared brain dead. His death has created a vacuum in Odisha politics.
Damodar Rout was MLA for seven terms from the Erasma (five times) and Paradip (twice) Assembly constituencies from 1977 to 2019, and served as a minister in various important departments of the Odisha government.
Born to Kapil Charan Rout and Sneha Rout on July 2, 1942, Damodar Rout was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly on a Janata Party ticket for the first time in 1977. In 1980, he was elected to the Odisha Assembly on a Janata Party (Secular) ticket. In 1990, he again won the Assembly elections on the Janata Dal ticket and as a BJD candidate from 2000 to 2019.
Damodar was a prominent leader in Odisha politics and served as minister in the Biju Patnaik and Naveen Patnaik Cabinets. He was the Minister of Information and Public Relations from October 25, 1979 to February 2, 1980. Later, he was the Minister of the Panchayatiraj Department with the Social Welfare Department from 1993 to 1995. He also served as the Minister of Women and Children.
Rout was the Minister of Panchayatiraj, Information and Public Relations, Agriculture, Cooperatives, Fisheries and Livestock Development, Health, Employment, and other departments in the Naveen Patnaik Cabinet.
Apart from this, Damodar was also a member of various important committees of the Assembly. Rout was very close to Biju Babu and quit his job and joined politics on the latter’s advice.
