FORMER UNION MINISTER ARJUN SETHI , PASSES AWAY

Bureau,Odishabarta

BHUBANESWAR:Former Union Minister Arjun Charan Sethi passed away in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar on Monday. He was 79.

An eight-time MP from Bhadrak, Arjun Sethi played a vital role in the all-round development of Bhadrak district. Born on September 18, 1941, he was a social worker and a well-known face in Odisha politics.

Arjun Charan Sethi was first elected to Lok Sabha as MP in 1971 and was re-elected to the 7th Lok Sabha (2nd term) in 1980, 10th Lok Sabha (3rd term) in 1991,  12th Lok Sabha (4th term) in 1998, 13th Lok Sabha (5th term) in 1999, 14th Lok Sabha (6th term) in 2004, 15th Lok Sabha (7th term) in  2009 and 16th Lok Sabha (8th term) in 2014.

He was also a member of Odisha Legislative Assembly twice –from 1990-91 and from 1995-98 (second term).

Sethi was the Water Resources Minister in former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government. Ahead of the simultaneous elections in 2019, Arjun Sethi had quit BJD and joined BJP along with his son Abhimanyu Sethi.

Prior to joining BJP,  Sethi had held several key posts in the BJD, He was the leader of Parliamentary Party (1999-2000) and held the post of Bhadrak district president (2005 onwards).

Union Minister and Senior BJP Leader Dharmendra Pradhan took to Twitter to condole the demise of the former minister.

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