Debendra Pradhan (16 July 1941 – 17 March 2025) was an Indian politician and a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

, who served as

minister of state Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for surface transport and agriculture in the

Second Vajpayee ministry Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union C ...

. He was elected to the

13th Lok Sabha The 13th Lok Sabha (20 October 1999 – 6 February 2004) is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha (House of the People, or lower house in the Parliament of India). It was convened after 1999 Indian general election held during September–Oct ...

from Deogarh constituency. He was also a member of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

Background

Pradhan was born on 16 July 1941 in the undivided Dhenkanal District of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

and studied

MBBS A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

. His son

Dharmendra Pradhan Dharmendra Pradhan (born 26 June 1969) is an Indian politician who has served as the Minister of Education since his appointment in July 2021. He has previously held the portfolios of Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (2017– ...

is a

Loksabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past-th ...

MP from Sambalpur, Odisha and Union Minister of Education, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship in the Narendra Modi Government. He died in Delhi on 17 March 2025, at the age of 83.Former Union Minister Debendra Pradhan passes away
/ref>

Offices

*President, BJP, Talcher Mandal (1980–1983) *District President of undivided Dhenkanal District of BJP (1983–1985) *District President of undivided Dhenkanal District of BJP (1985–1988) *State President of BJP, Odisha (February 1988 – 1990) *Re-elected as State President (BJP), Odisha (1990–1993) *State General Secretary of BJP, Odisha (1993–1995) *Re-elected as State President of BJP, Odisha (1995–1997) *National Executive Member, BJP (1997–1998) *Elected as Member of Parliament to 12th Lok Sabha, Deogarh Parliamentary Constituency, Odisha (1998) *Union Minister of State for Surface Transport (1998–1999) *Re-elected as Member of Parliament to 13th Lok Sabha, Deogarh Parliamentary Constituency (1999–2004) *Union Minister of State, Surface Transport & Minister of State for Agriculture (1999–2001) *National Vice President of BJP (2001–2002)

References

External links

__FORCETOC__ 1941 births 2025 deaths People from Debagarh district Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Odisha India MPs 1999–2004 Lok Sabha members from Odisha People from Angul district India MPs 1998–1999 {{Odisha-BJP-politician-stub