Former Union Minister Manikrao Gavit passes away at 87
New Delhi: Senior Congress Tribal leader and former Union minister, Manikrao Gavit, passed away due to age-related illness while being admitted to a hospital in Nashik on Saturday, September 17, 2022. He was 87 years old.
Gavit served as Minister of State for Home and Social Justice under former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. He was elected nine times from a tribal-dominated Nandurbar district from 1981 till 2009 but lost elections to the BJP in the general elections of 2014.
Born in the Dhulipada village in Nawapur of Nandurbar district, Gavit was elected in the Gram Panchayat in 1965 before being elected to the Dhule Zilla Parishad and bagging the Nawapur Assembly seat in 1980.
He was elected consecutively from the Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency a record 9 consecutive times between 1981 and 2009, thereby making the region a stronghold of the National Congress party in the state.
Maharashtra Congress President, Nana Patole, expressed grief over his sudden demise and said that the State lost a prominent and far-sighted people-oriented leader with a long experience in the social and political arena.
Fondly regarded as Dadasaheb, he held the post of Interim Speaker of Lok Sabha once. “Dadasaheb`s passing has caused an irreparable loss to the state social and political spheres… I pay my homage to him and also share the grief of the Gavit family,” Patole said.
Gavit is survived by a son, Bharat and daughter, Ex-MLA Nirmala.
(Avya Mathur)
