Former Maharashtra chief minister Shankarrao Bhaurao Chavan passed away at Bombay Hospital today. He was 83. The former Union minister was on life support since last week after undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot in the brain. Chavan is survived by son Ashok, who is Maharashtra’s Transport Minister, and five daughters. His wife Kusumtai passed away in January 2003. Chavan’s body was taken to his son’s official residence, and will be flown to Nanded tomorrow for the funeral. One of the last surviving Congressmen from the Nehruvian era, Chavan was a lawyer by profession before he joined the movement against against the Nizam of Hyderabad, whose rule extended to parts of Marathwada.A two-time CM, he had switched loyalties midway through his career to align with Pawar’s People’s Democratic Front. But he returned to Congress fold in 1980 and began a stint in national politics when Indira Gandhi inducted him as Education Minister in 1980.Chavan is remembered for his controversial role during the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, when he was Union Home Minister in the Narasimha Rao Cabinet. The veteran Congress leader was also Planning Commission Deputy Chairman from 1981 to 1984. He was the Congress’s Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha from 1991 to 1996 and had been elected thrice to the Upper House.
