According to family sources, Panda fell off a chair and lost consciousness after having tea at his residence this morning.
Hailing from Garipur village under Rasulpur block in Jajpur district, Panda was elected to the State Legislative Assembly from Dharmasala Assembly segment as an independent candidate in 1980. He won the seat for a second consecutive term on a Congress ticket in 1985.
Panda was also elected as the Chairman of Rasulpur block.
He was known to be a close associate of late Chief Minister Janaki Ballabh Patnaik.
A pal of gloom has descended on Dharmasala area following the demise of the veteran leader.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, State PCC chief Niranjan Patnaik, Dharmasala MLA Pranab Kumar Balabantaray and several other leaders expressed grief on the demise of former legislator.
