Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, former bureaucrat turned politician, once considered the most influential force behind Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's BJD government succumbed to a brain haemorrhage late last evening at a hospital in Mumbai. <br/><br/>The 77-year-old former Rajya Sabha member and founder of the Odisha Jan Morcha was battling lung cancer in the hospital. Leaders across party lines condoled the death of Mohapatra. <br/><br/>He is widely credited with Biju Janata Dal' unstoppable growth from until 2012 and political advisor of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, when he was sacked from the party on an anti-party issue.

Former Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra passed away tonight at a hospital in Mumbai after a prolonged illness, he was 77. Mohapatra was Rajya Sabha member from 2010 to 2012.<br/><br/>Regarded as the chief strategist and mentor of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the former IAS officer of 1963 batch played a key role in deciding the shape and contours of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) after the regional party was formed in 1997.<br/><br/>Mohapatra was the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister when Biju Patnaik occupied the top post.''<br/>'<br/>A host of dignitaries, including Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Lok Sabha Member Baijayant Panda, Odisha BJP President Basant Panda, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Prasad Harichandan have expressed condolences<br/>over the death of Mohapatra.