Former Kerala, Bihar Governor RS Gavai passes away at 86

NAGPUR: Former Governor of Kerala and Bihar R S Gavai died this afternoon after a prolonged illness at a private hospital here.

He was 86.

Gavai is survived by wife Kamal and two sons. The elder son Justice Bhushan Gavai is a Bombay High Court judge of Nagpur bench and younger son Rajendra is leader of RPI (Gavai faction).

The body was taken to Justice Bhushan Gavai's residence in the city and later kept at Deekshabhoomi for his followers to pay the last respects, his family said.

The funeral will take place at his native village in Daryapur in Amravati district tomorrow, they said.

Gavai was a former Chairman of the State Legislative Council and Lok Sabha member from Amravati Constituency.

He was the Chairman of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Smarak Samiti, which manages the Deekshabhoomi, the historic place where Ambedkar embraced Buddhism in 1956.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Gavai would be accorded a state funeral.

"I have directed the officials to accord a state funeral to Gavai, who was the Governor of Kerala and Bihar," Fadanvis told .

Paying tributes to the veteran Dalit leader, Fadnavis said that with his death, Maharashtra has lost an "ajat shatru" (a person with no enemies).

"It is also a great loss to the Ambedkar movement since Gavai was a father figure for the community, who successfully managed the affairs of Deekshabhoomi since the past five decades," he said.

The Chief Minister had recently visited Gavai while he was admitted to hospital here.