Bhubaneswar, May 9: Veteran trade union leader and All India Vice President of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Bishnu Mohanty, passed away early this morning at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. He was 74.

A towering figure in Odisha’s labour movement, Mohanty began his political journey as a student activist, associated with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI). During his college years, he was elected three times as president of the student union at Rourkela Government College and also served three terms as president of the student union at Rourkela Law College.

According to hospital sources, Mohanty breathed his last around 3:15 AM, after battling complications related to diabetes for some time.

A prominent student leader from Sundargarh district, Mohanty was arrested and spent 24 months in jail during the Emergency of 1975. He also played a key role in significant movements, including the Talcher-Bimlagarh railway agitation and the contract workers’ movement in Rourkela, which led to further periods of imprisonment.

Mohanty later became a senior member of the CPI(M) state secretariat and held several leadership positions within CITU, including State General Secretary in Odisha and National Vice President. He led multiple trade unions across Sundargarh and the state, serving as president and general secretary in various organisations.

From 2000 until his passing, he continuously served as the State General Secretary of CITU for 26 years, becoming one of the most influential voices in Odisha’s labour movement.

His death has been widely mourned across political and trade union circles. Leaders and workers have described his passing as an irreparable loss to the working-class movement in both the state and the country.