Bhubaneswar: The third death anniversary of three-time Odisha Chief Minister and former Assam Governor Janaki Ballabh Patnaik is being observed across the state today.

Leaders cutting across party lines paid tributes to the litterateur, journalist and eminent politician at various functions organised today.

Floral tributes were paid to the great leader at his statue on Janaki Ballabh Patnaik Udyan premises in Khordha. Rajya Sabha MP Soumya Ranjan Patnaik and former MLA Jitu Mitra were present on the occasion.

"Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, a man with a vision who was instrumental in carving the modern Odisha. We remember him on his 3rd death anniversary and pay our rich tribute," read a tweet of the official Twitter handle of Odisha Congress.

Janaki Ballabh Patnaik,a man with a vision who was instrumental in carving the modern Odisha.

We remember him on his 3rd death anniversary and pay our rich tribute.#RememberingJBPatnaik pic.twitter.com/VtAW4nkYiU

— Odisha Congress (@INCOdisha) April 21, 2018

Born on January 3, 1927 at Rameswar village in Khordha district, Patnaik was the Chief Minister of Odisha for two consecutive terms from 1980 to 1989 and then again from 1995 to 1999.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1971 and became a union minister in the Indira Gandhi government. He was the minister for Civil Aviation when he was chosen by Indira to become Chief Minister of Odisha in 1980.

He was appointed the Governor of Assam in 2009 and was among the few Governors appointed by the UPA government, who were allowed to complete their full term by the NDA government led by Narendra Modi government.

Besides his political career, JB was also an eminent litterateur and won many literary awards. He won the Central Sahitya Akademi for his Odia translation of Bankim Chandra’s novels titled ‘Bankim Chandra Upanyasmala’ in 2001 and the Odisha Sahitya Akademi award for his book ‘Bairagya Shataka’, a translation of Bhartruhari’s celebrated Sanskrit work, in 1996.

He also translated the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Srimad Bhagavad Gita into Odia, all of which were highly acclaimed works. His other works were Sindhu Upatyaka and Gautam Buddha.