Senior Maharashtra Congress leader Shivajirao Deshmukh dead

Senior Congress leader, a permanent invitee of All India Congress Committee (AICC) and former chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council Shivajirao Deshmukh died following brief illness at a private hospital here on Monday evening, party sources said.

He was under treatment for kidney-related issues for the past few days at the Bombay Hospital.

He was 84 and a sitting member of the Legislative Council.

Deshmukh's last rites will be performed at Kokrud in Sangli district, his home village on Tuesday morning, said a Congress party spokesperson.

Deshmukh, who started his career as a government employee, later joined active politics with the Congress after the backing of the late Maharashtra Chief Minister Vasantrao Patil, in the 1970s.

He went onto win the assembly polls four times from Shirala seat in 1978, 1980, 1985 and in 1990.A

During his long political career spanning over five decades, Deshmukh served in various key posts, including as a cabinet minister on several occasions.

Later, in 1996, he was elected a member of the Legislative Council, and remained there to date.

In 2008, he was elected as Chairman of the upper house and continued in the prestigious post till March 2015.

In 2015, he lost the post when the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) moved a no-confidence motion against him with the support of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena combine.

Governor C.V. Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis State Congress' President Ashok Chavan and several other political leaders across party lines mourned Deshmukh's demise.