BHUBANESWAR: Geeta Mehta, chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s elder sister and a known author, passed away in Delhi on Saturday. She was 80 years old.
Sources said she was not keeping well for past some months due to age related ailments.
Geeta, daughter of legendary Biju Patnaik, was also a documentary film maker, and journalist. She was married to renowned American publisher late Sonny Mehta.
Born in 1943 to Biju and Gyan Patnaik in Delhi, she had her education in India and University of Cambridge UK. She had written five books: Karma Cola, Snake and Ladders, A River Sutra, Raj and The Eternal Ganesha.
Geeta had hit headlines in 2019 after she declined the prestigious Padama Shri award for literature and education citing that the timing close to election may be misunderstood.
“I am deeply honoured that the Government of India should think me worthy of a Padma Shri but with great regret I feel I must decline as there is a general election looming and the timing of the award might be misconstrued, causing embarrassment both to the Government and myself, which I would much regret,” she had then said.
Leaders associated with Biju-Naveen family fondly remember her as extremely witty and affectionate. “Though she was not directly involved in politics, she often advised Naveen babu on many matters. She often visited Naveen Niwas and had an extremely cordial relation with Naveen babu,” senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya said.
Senior BJP leader Baijayant Panda described her as a charismatic, opinionated and feisty personality. “Having been close family friends, I recall her wit and intelligence as a great raconteur and along with her late husband, publishing titan Sonny Mehta, her many kindnesses and wonderful hospitality,” reads part of a social media post by Baijayant.
