Bhubaneswar / Hyderabad, April 21: Nitai Mohanty, 77, personal assistant to J.B. Patnaik, spent today answering phone calls from all over the country.

The number of phone calls multiplied after the body of the leader, who died at a hospital in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, reached here this afternoon.

A call also came from President Pranab Mukherjee's office with a query as to whether Mukherjee could speak to Patnaik's wife, Jayanti, a former MP and former chairperson of National Commission for Women.

Mohanty, who was with Patnaik for the past 37 years, also had to tell visitors numerous times how the unfortunate incident took place.

JB died following a cardiac arrest at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences around 4am today, barely one-and-a-half hours after being rushed to the hospital.

The veteran Congress leader was in Tirupati to attend the convocation of Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, scheduled to be held this morning. It was postponed in view of his death.

Mohanty said JB had visited Tirumala last night and had a darshan of the deity during the VIP break at 8.30pm. "He had returned to the Vidyapeeth guest house and slept after dinner. He suffered a heart attack late in the night," he said, adding that the cremation would be held in Puri tomorrow.

The body would also be taken to his village at Rameswar.

The leader's elder daughter, Sudatta Patnaik, 57, said: "Only two days ago, he had an ECG and echo cardiology test done. The reports showed he was all right and had then gone to Tirupati to attend the convention of Sanskrit university. He also had a darshan of Lord Tirupati. But we got a call around 2.30am that he had been admitted to the hospital and by four, he was no more."

Patnaik is survived by his wife, Jayanti Patnaik, a son and two daughters. His son, Pruthvi Ballabh Patnaik, 48, is an industrialist, while his younger daughter, Supriya, 51, stays in the US. She is now on her way to Bhubaneswar.

With the news of JB's death reaching here, hundreds of well-wishers flocked to his residence near Sishu Bhavan to pay homage. The Odisha government has declared state mourning and most ministers of the Naveen Patnaik cabinet reached JB's residence before the body arrived in a procession from the airport after a guard of honour there.

Odisha Jan Morcha chief Pyari Mohan Mohapatra also came to pay his respects. The government of Assam, of which he served as governor in the final phase of his life, sent a representative who placed a wreath on his body.

As soon as the body reached his residence, hundreds of his followers chanted "JB amar rahe". There was a jostling among his well-wishers to get a glimpse of their beloved leader. Police commissioner R.P. Sharma and his men had a tough time controlling the crowd.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik and governor S.C. Jamir also came to pay their respects. The chief minister also condoled Jayanti Patnaik.

JB's son-in-law Soumya Ranjan Patnaik was seen making arrangements to ensure that the well-wishers had no problems in paying their respects.