Kalahandi: Former member of Odisha Legislative Assembly Bira Sipka breathed his last at Golamunda village of Kalahandi district Tuesday. He was 64.
Born February 1, 1956, Sipka represented Dharmagarh Assembly constituency for three consecutive terms. He won the seat in 1995 as a Janata Dal candidate and then again in 2000 and 2004 on BJD ticket.
Apart from being a three-term MLA, Sipka also served as chief whip of Janata Dal in Assembly and as secretary of Janata Dal.
After delimitation, he contested from Junagarh Assembly constituency instead of Dharamgarh in 2009 as Biju Janata Dal candidate and lost to Congress candidate Gobardhan Dash that effectively ended his political career.
Politics aside, Sipka founded and was closely associated with a number of educational and cultural institutions – especially in Kalahandi. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed grief over the demise of the former legislator.
PNN
