Bhubaneswar, April 20 -- Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate for the Assembly elections Bed Prakash Agarwalla passed away following a prolonged illness here this morning.

The former finance minister in late Biju Patnaik government was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar after he was nominated by the BJD to contest the elections from Patkura Assembly Constituency in Kendrapara district.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed his deep grief over demise of the veteran politician.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote:

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