In 1971, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bhadrak constituency in Odisha as an Indian National Congress candidate. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980. He was re-elected in 1991, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009. He was the Union Minister of water resources in Atal Bihari Vajpayee led government from 2000 to 2004. 