BHUBANESWAR: Veteran BJP leader and former Union Minister Dr Debendra Pradhan passed away on Monday in New Delhi after a brief illness. Dr Pradhan was 84 and is survived by his wife and two sons. He breathed his last at the official residence of his son Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Born on July 16, 1941, Dr Pradhan got his MBBS degree from SCB Medical College, Cuttack in 1966. He started his career as a medical officer from Talcher. He, however, quit the government service to pursue social services and agriculture.One of the major pillars in building BJP organisation in Odisha, Dr Pradhan, joined the saffron party in 1983. He was appointed as president of the party’s Talcher Mandal the same year, a post which he held till 1985.Dr Pradhan entered electoral politics in 1984. The party nominated him from the Deogarh Lok Sabha seat, which he lost. He was assigned the job of president of the undivided Dhenkanal district in 1985. He was elected as BJP’s state president for two consecutive terms from 1988 to 1993. His third term as state unit president was from 1995 to 1997.A close associate of BJP veteran Kushabhau Thakre, Dr Pradhan, after two defeats in 1991 and 1996, tasted electoral success in 1998 from Deogarh parliamentary constituency. The same year, he became the Surface Transport Minister in the cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He again won the 1991 election from Deogarh and went on become Union Minister of Surface Transport and Agriculture in the Vajpayee government.Dr Pradhan was national vice president of BJP from 2001-02. His electoral politics came to an end after he lost the 2004 Assembly election to Pallahara. He, however, continued to guide the party as a Marg Darshak.Condolences started pouring in after the news of Dr Pradhan’s demise broke. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid his last respects to the mortal remains of Dr Pradhan at the residence of Dharmendra Pradhan.
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