Bhubaneswar, Mar 25: Veteran CPI leader and former MLA, Pitambar Panda, who was ailing for some time, passed away on Thursday. Panda was 64 and is survived by four daughters and only son besides his wife.

Panda was admitted to the Kalinga hospital here for a post-operation treatment, party sources said.

Panda, born in 1939 in a family of freedom fighters in Balasore district, joined CPI and was elected to the Orissa assembly on a party ticket in 1980. The Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee President, JB Patnaik condoled the CPI leader's death saying that Panda was a politician who worked for the poorest of the poor in the undivided Balasore district. Bureau Report