Former Balasore MLA and a firebrand leader Arun Dey passed away at a private hospital here on Monday at the age of 75. He was undergoing treatment for post Covid complications.
Dey was admitted the Balasore district headquarters hospital after he suffered from cold and complained of difficulty in breathing.
When he tested positive for Covid-19, he was shifted to the private hospital in Bhubaneswar on July 9.
He had last contested assembly election from Balasore in 2014 on an Indian National Congress (INC) ticket. However, he lost to Biju Janata Dal’s Jiban Pradip Das by a huge margin.
He had joined the BJD for only 10 days after being denied ticket to contest either Lok Sabha or assembly polls. He left the party ahead of the polls and joined the grand old party – Congress.
Dey had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha polls unsuccessfully on NCP ticket from the Balasore segment. As NCP had a seat sharing arrangement with BJD during 2019 polls, Dey was hopeful to get the ticket based on this earlier equation.
The five-time MLA has won thrice on CPI ticket, once as Independent and once on Odisha Gana Parishad (OGP) ticket. He was fighting for the rights of labourers.