Cuttack, Nov 18: Former Minister and senior BJP leader Samir Dey passed away in Cuttack Monday. He was 67.

Samir Dey was undergoing treatment at a private hospital, where he breathed his last. 

Born on January 10, 1957, Samir Dey had been elected as Odisha Rajya Sabha MLA in three consecutive polls -- 1995, 2000 and 2004. Representing BJP, Dey was elected from Cuttack constituency.

He had served as the Minister of Higher Education & Urban Development during the BJD-BJP Alliance government in the state. 

An advocate by profession, Dey was the Minister of Urban Development in the  first Naveen Patnaik-led ministry from 2000-04. He had then served as the Minister of Urban Development 2004-09.

Reports say that it was Samir Dey who made Cuttack as stronghold of BJP in 1995. Before this, BJP had been called a 'Party of Western Odisha'.

read more Odisha News