Former Odisha Chief Minister and ex Governor of Assam Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, well-known as JB Patnaik, died on Tuesday in Tirupati. Patnaik was 88-yr-old. The veteran Congress leader was on a visit to temple town to attend the convocation ceremony of Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha there on Tuesday. Mr. Patnaik was Chancellor of the university. Patnaik suffered a massive heart attack on Monday late night and he was rushed to SVIMS, Tirupati. Patnaik breathed his last in hospital at 3 AM while undergoing treatment. The body of the late leader will be brought to Bhubaneswar by a special flight in the afternoon for cremation at Swargadwara in Puri.

JB Patnaik was Chief Minister of Odisha from 1980 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 1999, holding that post for the longest time on record before Naveen Patnaik took over the reigns.

Born on January 3 in 1927, JB Patnaik graduated in Sanskrit (BA from the Utkal University) in 1947 and did his post-graduation (M.A. degree) in Political Science from the Banaras Hindu University in 1949.  In 1980, he became the Union Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation and Labour. The construction of New Jagannath Sadak (Chandanpur of Puri district to Sarankul of Nayagarh district) is one of his major contribution to the transportation and tourism of Odisha.