Overview

• Tirkey died around 1 am after a three-month hospital stay for multiple health issues, his family said.
• His last rites will take place in his ancestral village of Jhunmur in Sundergarh district.
• He represented Biramitrapur in the Odisha Assembly in 1995, 2000, 2009 and 2014 across four terms.
• A veteran of regional politics, he won twice on a JMM ticket, once as an Independent, and once for the Samata Kranti Dal, a party he founded.
• Condolences were issued by BJD president Naveen Patnaik, Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo and OPCC chief Bhakta Charan Das, while his son Rohit Joseph Tirkey currently holds the Biramitrapur seat for the BJD.