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{{Short description|Indian advocate and politician (1948–2022)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| office = Member of the<br />[[Orissa Legislative Assembly]]
| termstart = 1985
| termend = 1990
| predecessor = {{ill|v=ib|ଅରୁଣ ଦେ|lt=Arun Dey|or}}
| successor = {{ill|v=ib|ଅରୁଣ ଦେ|lt=Arun Dey|or}}
| constituency = [[Balasore Assembly constituency|Balasore]]
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1948|03|01|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|09|15|1948|03|01|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Odisha]], India
| children = 3
| spouse = Binapani Das
| alma_mater = {{ubl|[[Fakir Mohan University]]|[[Madhusudan Law University]]}}
| image = Gopanarayan Das.jpg
}}

'''Gopanarayan Das''' (1 March 1948 – 15 September 2022) was an Indian advocate and politician who served in the [[Orissa Legislative Assembly]] from 1985 to 1990. Das represented the [[Balasore Assembly constituency]] as a member of the [[Indian National Congress]].

== Biography ==
=== Education ===
Gopanarayan Das was born on 1 March 1948. He first gained an interest in politics in the 1960s while he was a student at [[Fakir Mohan University]] in [[Balasore]], becoming a student leader and organizing protests. Due to an ongoing [[States of emergency in India|state of emergency]] declaration, Das was drafted into the [[Indian Army]] in 1967, serving for a year in [[Siliguri]] with the [[Mahar Regiment]]. Das later studied law at [[Madhusudan Law University]] in [[Cuttack]]; while at this university, he was narrowly defeated in an election for student president. After graduating, Das established a law practice in Balasore.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Shri Gopanarayan Das |url=http://odishaassembly.nic.in/pageerror.aspx |access-date=21 September 2022 |website=[[Odisha Legislative Assembly]]}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=15 September 2022 |title=ପୂର୍ବତନ ବିଧାୟକ ଗୋପ ନାରାୟଣ ଦାସଙ୍କ ପରଲୋକ, ୧୯୮୫ରୁ ୧୯୯୦ ଯାଏଁ ବାଲେଶ୍ଵର ସଦରରୁ ଥିଲେ ବିଧାୟକ |trans-title=Death of former MLA GOP Narayan Das, MLA from Balswar Sadar from 1985 to 1990 |url=https://www.prameyanews7.com/former-mla-passes-away/ |access-date=21 September 2022 |website=[[Prameya News7]] |language=or}}</ref>

=== Political career ===
In 1973, Das was elected to the Balasore City Council as a member of the [[Indian National Congress]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Noman Avinash |first=Bhasha |date=15 September 2022 |title=कांग्रेस के पूर्व विधायक गोपनारायण दास का 75 वर्ष की उम्र में निधन |trans-title=Former Congress MLA Gopanarayan Das passes away at the age of 75 |url=https://hindi.theprint.in/india/odisha-former-congress-mla-gopanarayan-das-passes-away-at-the-age-of-75/395946/ |access-date=21 September 2022 |website=[[ThePrint]] |language=hi}}</ref> Das also worked as an assistant public prosecutor for the [[Government of Odisha|Government]] of [[Orissa]] between 1975 and 1977. In 1977, Das became the general secretary of the [[Indian Youth Congress|Orissa Pradesh Youth Congress]], and at some point he also served as the general secretary of the [[Indian National Trade Union Congress]] committee in Balasore. Das served on the city council until 1979, and he became the director of the co-operative bank in Balasore the following year.<ref name=":0" /> Later in 1980, Das served as a member of the executive board of the [[Pradesh Congress Committee]], he was elected president of the [[panchayat samiti]] for Balasore, holding this position until 1985.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Routray |first=Sushreejyoti |date=15 September 2022 |title=ବାଲେଶ୍ୱରର ପୂର୍ବତନ ବିଧାୟକ ଗୋପନାରାୟଣ ଦାସଙ୍କ ପରଲୋକ |trans-title=The Buddhist of Galdar's exit |url=https://odishabhaskar.com/former-mla-gopnarayan-das-passed-away/ |access-date=21 September 2022 |website=Odisha Bhaskar |language=or}}</ref>

In the [[1980 Odisha Legislative Assembly election|1980 election]], Das ran for the [[Balasore Assembly constituency|Balasore constituency]] of the [[Orissa Legislative Assembly]]. His main opponent was {{ill|ଅରୁଣ ଦେ|lt=Arun Dey|or}} of the [[Communist Party of India]]; the two had previously been friends in college. Das was ultimately defeated by Dey, receiving 18,565 votes compared to Dey's 21,182.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Balasore Assembly Constituency Election Result – Legislative Assembly Constituency |url=https://resultuniversity.com/election/balasore-odisha-assembly-constituency |access-date=21 September 2022 |website=resultuniversity.com}}</ref> In the [[1985 Odisha Legislative Assembly election|1985 Orissa Legislative Assembly election]], Das narrowly defeated Dey in a rematch, receiving 35,830 votes to 35,761.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> During his tenure in the legislative assembly, Das oversaw the industrialization of Balasore, including the opening of [[Birla Tyres]]. He also helped establish a new women's college in the region.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=16 September 2022 |title=Ex-MLA Gopanarayan Das Passes Away |url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2022/state-editions/page-3-briefs-page-3-briefs-2022-09-16.html |access-date=21 September 2022 |website=[[The Pioneer (India)|The Pioneer]] |language=en}}</ref> Das did not run for re-election in the [[1990 Odisha Legislative Assembly election|1990 election]], which was won by Dey.<ref name=":4" /> {{As of|2022}}, Das has been the last member of the Indian National Congress to hold the Balasore constituency.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=15 September 2022 |title=Odisha Cong Chief Mourns Former MLA's Demise |url=https://odishabytes.com/opcc-president-sarat-patnaik-expresses-grief-over-former-mla-gopa-narayan-dass-demise/ |access-date=21 September 2022 |website=Odisha Bytes |language=en-US}}</ref>

Das ran again for the Balasore constituency in [[1995 Odisha Legislative Assembly election|1995]]; however, he was defeated by Dey, receiving 48,953 votes compared to Dey's 65,426.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=btqelwoHxdkC&q=%22Gopanarayan+Das%22 |title=Statistical Report on General Elections, 1995 to the Legislative Assembly of Orissa |date=1997 |publisher=[[Election Commission of India]] |year=1997 |location=New Delhi |pages=29 |language=en}}</ref> From 1996 to 2000, Das served as the chairman of the Odisha Small Industries Corporation.<ref name=":3" /> Das lost another run for the assembly in [[2000 Odisha Legislative Assembly election|2000]], placing a distant third, receiving 33,163 votes compared to Dey's 39,604, while {{ill|ଜୀବନ ପ୍ରଦୀପ ଦାଶ|lt=Jiban Pradip Dash|or}} of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] won with 53,242 votes.<ref name=":4" />

=== Personal life and death ===
Das was married to Binapani Das and had 3 children. In addition to his political and legal careers, Das was also a part-time journalist for the ''[[National Herald]]''.<ref name=":0" />

On 14 September 2022, Das was admitted to the Balasore District Headquarters Hospital after complaining of chest pain. The following morning, while being transferred to a hospital in Cuttack, Das suffered a [[heart attack]] and subsequently died of [[cardiac arrest]] at the age of 74.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> [[Sarat Pattanayak]], the president of the [[Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee]], stated that his death was "an irreparable loss" for the Indian National Congress.<ref name=":5" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Gopanarayan}}
[[Category:Place of birth missing]]
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:Odisha MLAs 1985–1990]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Odisha]]
[[Category:People from Balasore]]
[[Category:Fakir Mohan University alumni]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]

Gopanarayan Das - Revision history

Bot at 08:27, 23 September 2022