Ex-Odisha CM cremated with full state honours at native village

The mortal remains of former Odisha chief minister and veteran Congress leader Hemananda Biswal was Saturday consigned to flames with full state honours at his native village in Jharsuguda district.

The 82-year-old prominent tribal leader, who passed away during treatment for pneumonia at a hospital in Bhubaneswar on Friday, was carried to his native Thakurpada village, where his nephew Dinesh Biswal lit the funeral pyre as the district police offered gun salute.

Earlier in the day, the state's first tribal chief minister's mortal remains were taken to the assembly, where legislators paid floral tributes to the departed soul.

Biswal's body was also taken to the state Congress headquarters in Bhubaneswar, where party workers paid their last respect and raised slogans in his praise.

He was first elected chief minister from December 7, 1989 to March 5, 1990, and again from December 6, 1999 to March 5, 2000.