Former Odisha Minister Sk. Matlub Ali passes away

Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha Minister and senior Congress leader Sk. Matlub Ali passed away on Thursday. He was 78.

Ali was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here after he complained of illness.

He was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly four times (1974, 1980, 1985, and 1995) from Mahanga constituency.

He was a minister in JB Patnaik and Nandini Satpathy governments, said sources.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and many other politicians expressed their grief over the demise of Ali.