Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh (26 May 1945 – 14 August 2012) was an Indian politician who served as the 14th Chief Minister of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

, first term from 18 October 1999 to 16 January 2003 and second term, from 1 November 2004 to 5 December 2008. He also served in the Union cabinet as the Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences. Vilasrao Deshmukh was a Member of Parliament in

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

, India. He had previously held the posts of Minister of Rural Development and Minister of Panchayati Raj,

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

and Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises,

. He was a member of Rajya Sabha representing Maharashtra. Vilasrao Deshmukh was two-time Chief Minister of Maharashtra, from 1999 to 2003 and from 2004 to 2008. He was a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

and originally belonged to Latur district in the

Marathwada Marathwada () is a proposed state and geographical region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was formed during the Nizam's rule and was part of the then Hyderabad State. The region coincides with the Aurangabad division of Maharashtra. I ...

region of

. Critically ill with kidney and liver failures, Deshmukh died on 14 August 2012 due to multiple organ failure at Global Hospitals,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. He is the father of well-known

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

actor

Riteish Deshmukh Riteish Vilasrao Deshmukh (born 17 December 1978) is an Indian actor, comedian, television presenter, writer, director and film producer. He is the son of former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh. He works in Hindi and Marathi ...

Personal life

Deshmukh was born on 26 May 1945 in Babhalgaon village in Latur district in the present-day Maharashtra. He was the eldest son of Dagdojirao Deshmukh and Sushiladevi. He had two younger sisters 'Nalini', 'Vijaya' and one younger brother 'Diliprao'. His grandfather Vyankatrao Deshmukh was a revenue officer in

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and ...

and held Deshmukhi rights to collect revenues and establishing law and order in jurisdiction. Deshmukh's father Dagdojirao got hereditary rights after his grandfather, but were of less significance than the grandfather due to merge of Hyderabad state into

Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...

. But he was a village head in of his native village which was then in Osmanabad district. He died on turn of 2000. His mother Sushila Devi died earlier than his father, many of Vilasrao's institutes are named after her. His younger brother Diliprao Deshmukh was member of Maharashtra legislative council and also minister in Government of Maharashtra during 2000–2018. After completing his school education in native

Latur Latur(लातूर) is a city in Indian state of Maharashtra, and is one of the largest cities of the Marathwada region. It is the administrative headquarters of Latur district and Latur Taluka. The city is a tourist hub surrounded by ma ...

city, he went to ILS Law College, Pune and thereafter to Pune University to study law. After passing out from the university, he began to practice law. He married Vaishali in 1973 and has three sons – Amit Deshmukh, a MLA in Maharashtra, Dheeraj Deshmukh a MLA and Bollywood actor

. His three daughters in law include-

Aditi Pratap Aditi Deshmukh ( Ghorpade) is an Indian TV actress, married to Congress politician Amit Deshmukh Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh (born 21 March 1976) is an Indian politician and a member of Indian National Congress. He is the son of veteran congress l ...

, a television actress,

Genelia D'Souza Genelia Deshmukh (née D'Souza; born 5 August 1987) is an Indian actress and model who predominantly appears in Telugu, Hindi, and Tamil language films. After gaining wide attention in a Parker Pen commercial with Amitabh Bachchan, D'Souza be ...

, a Bollywood actress and Deepshikha Deshmukh, a movie director. Deshmukh was known as 'Thorle Saheb' (meaning older companion) in native district and 'Anna' (big brother) among his followers. He belonged to Jadhav clan in clan system, derived from Yadav clan. He was follower of

Sathya Sai Baba Sathya Sai Baba (born Ratnakaram Sathyanarayana Raju; 23 November 192624 April 2011) was an Indian guru. At the age of fourteen he claimed that he was the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, and left his home to serve his devotees. Sai Baba's ...

. He was devotee of Khandoba of Malegaon and Rokadeshwar

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

of Dhanegaon. He used to listen songs of

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

. He always resided in his ancestral home in village rather than in city.

Political career

Deshmukh entered active politics and became a member of the Babhalgaon (Latur) Village

Panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical men ...

from 1974 to 1980 and its

Sarpanch A sarpanch ( IAST: ''Sarpañch'' Hindi: ''सरपंच'') or Gram Pradhan or Mukhiya is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the Gram Sabha (village government) in India. The Sarp ...

(village chief) from 1974 to 1976. He was a member of Osmanabad Zilla Parishad and Deputy Chairman of Latur Taluka Panchayat Samiti (Latur District Panchayat Committee) from 1974 to 1980. As the President of Osmanabad District Youth Congress from 1975 to 1978, he worked for the implementation of the

Sanjay Gandhi Sanjay Gandhi (14 December 1946 23 June 1980) was an Indian politician and the younger son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi. He was a member of parliament, Lok Sabha and the Nehru–Gandhi family. During his lifetime, he was widely expected ...

inspired Five Point Programme of the Youth Congress. He organised the youth in Osmanabad district and became the President of District wing of the

Congress (I) Indian National Congress (Requisitionists) was created in 1969; it was created and led by Indira Gandhi. Initially this party was known as Congress (R), but it soon came to be generally known as the New Congress or Syndicate. The letter 'R' st ...

party. He was a Member of the

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha or the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the legislature of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated in the Nariman Point area of South Mumbai in the capital Mumbai. Presently, 288 me ...

from 1980 to 1995 winning the 1980, 1985, and 1990 elections. During this period, he served as the Minister of State and the Cabinet Minister and had the portfolios of the ministries of Home, General Administration, Cooperation, Public Works, Transport, Legislative Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development Fisheries, Industry, Rural Development, Education, Technical Education, Sports and Youth Welfare. He lost the election in 1995 by a margin of 35,000. He was re-elected to the State Legislature from Latur Constituency in the elections held in September 1999 with a strong comeback winning by a margin of nearly 91,000 in two successive elections, the highest in Maharashtra. He became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 18 October 1999. He was Chief Minister until 17 January 2003, but had to step down in January 2003 and was followed by Sushilkumar Shinde, following factionalism in the state unit of the party. He was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly from Latur Constituency in October 2004. He became Chief Minister for the second time on 1 November 2004 – 4 December 2008. He subsequently entered the

and was appointed to the Council of Ministers as Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

on 28 May 2009. He was appointed as Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises on 19 January 2011 after a cabinet reshuffle. Later on he was appointed Minister of Rural Development. He was appointed as Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences on 12 July 2011.

Scams and controversies

26/11 attacks controversy and resignation

In the aftermath of the

November 2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks (also referred to as 26/11, pronounced "twenty six eleven") were a series of terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist terrorist organisation from Pakistan, ...

Public opinion Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. Etymology The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...

forced Deshmukh, and his

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

, the state home minister,

R. R. Patil Raosaheb Ramrao Patil, better known as R. R. Patil (16 August 1957 – 16 February 2015) was an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He was an MLA for Tasgaon vidhan sabha constituency from 1991 to 2015. He was an important lea ...

, to resign for being perceived as inept administrators and insensitive to the problems facing people in the state. He took the moral responsibility and offered to resign, which was then accepted by the party.

Adarsh allegations

An affidavit filed in the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ...

on 27 April 2012 alleged that Deshmukh might be owning two flats through proxies in the Adarsh housing society in Mumbai. The case is pending for further investigation. Union Minister of Power Sushil Kumar Shinde, on 25 June 2012, told a judicial panel the decision to allot government land and grant of additional

Floor Space Index Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of a building's total floor area (gross floor area) to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built. It is often used as one of the regulations in city planning along with the building-to-land ratio. The ...

to the housing society was taken during Deshmukh's tenure as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Involvement with education trusts

Deshmukh founded the Manjra Charitable Trust which runs a number of colleges in Latur &

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. Some of them are Manajara Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital Latur, Abhinav College Latur, VDF polytechnique, VDF pharmacy college, VDF engineering college, Goldcrest high ICSE school, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology at Versova,

Andheri Andheri ( �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a locality in the western part of the city of Mumbai in India. Udayanagari, the name of a hill near the Mahakali caves, inspired the name Andheri. On the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave, there was an ...

in Mumbai and Sushiladevi Deshmukh Vidyalaya at

& Airoli,

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (), is a planned city situated on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, located in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The city ...

. He also founded Marathwada Mitramandal under which there are two engineering colleges and one commerce college in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, and another one in Marathwada Mitra Mandal's Institute of Technology Lohegaon,

Illness and death

Deshmukh was diagnosed with

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue rep ...

in summer 2011. Hints of his ailments, though kept private, included the writing of his will and a general lack of previous warmth and tiredness at the weddings of his two sons, Riteish and Dheeraj. He was admitted to Mumbai's

Breach Candy Hospital Breach Candy Hospital is a private hospital located in Mumbai, India. It is located in the Breach Candy area of South Mumbai. It is well known for the rich and famous patients that have been in the hospital. History It was established in ...

in the first week of August 2012, where he was diagnosed with liver and kidney failure. He was flown to

for a liver transplant by air ambulance on 6 August. Attempts to commence the liver transplant failed as a

clinically dead Clinical death is the medical term for cessation of blood circulation and breathing, the two criteria necessary to sustain the lives of human beings and of many other organisms. It occurs when the heart stops beating in a regular rhythm, a conditio ...

man, whose liver and kidney were to be transplanted into Deshmukh, died the night before the operation. He died the following day on 14 August at 14:00 due to an apparent multiple organ failure. He died in the presence of his family. Reactions included then-INC president

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (''née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independen ...

who said that his death "was a great loss to the party." President

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the Indi ...

paid tribute and expressed grief, as did Prime Minister

, who called Deshmukh "a trusted colleague and an able administrator who worked at panchayat, state and central levels with admirable dedication." Maharashtra BJP opposition leader

Prakash Javadekar Prakash Keshav Javadekar (born 30 January 1951) is an Indian politician. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and served as the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change from 30 May 2019 till 7 July 2021. Javadekar was ...

reacted in saying: "It is a very sad news. He was warm-hearted and cheerful and always ready for helping (others). He had a vision for Maharashtra and was equally concerned about farmers and youngsters." Minister of State for Science and Technology Ashwani Kumar called Deshmukh a "great human being" who had an ability to connect with people and that he was "very unwell. We were hoping for his recovery. I am saddened, shocked."

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as well. With a ...

Jaya Bachchan Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party, serving four terms since 2004. Known primarily for her work in Hindi and Bengali ...

said his death was "very unfortunate to lose such a promising leader at a young age."

Janata Dal United Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)”) abbreviated as JD(U) is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar , Arunachal Pr ...

(JDU) leader

Sharad Yadav Sharad Yadav (born 1 July 1947) is a politician from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party. He has been elected to Lok Sabha seven times and to Rajya Sabha thrice from JD(U). He was the first national president of Janata Dal (United) since its form ...

said his death resulted in a "lot of pain," while

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party i ...

leader

Praful Patel Praful Manoharbhai Patel (born 17 February 1957) is an Indian Nationalist Congress Party politician, industrialist and sports administrator. He was the president of India's association football governing body the All India Football Federatio ...

said: "He had a long journey in public life. He was a big leader, a wise leader. He knew all parts of Maharashtra very well. It is great loss for the country and big loss for Maharashtra." Other condolences came from Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan, Chief Minister

Prithviraj Chavan Prithviraj Chavan () (born 17 March 1946) is an Indian politician who was the 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, a state in Western India. Chavan is a graduate of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani and University of Cal ...

, Deputy Chief Minister

Ajit Pawar Ajit Anantrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: �d͡ʒit̪ pəʋaːɾ born 22 July 1959) is an Indian politician. He is the Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, and was the 8th Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in his ...

and

Republican Party of India The Republican Party of India (RPI, often called the Republican Party or simply Republican) is a political party in India. It has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by B. R. Ambedkar. The 'Training School for Entrance to Poli ...

leader

Ramdas Athawale Ramdas Bandu Athawale () (born 25 December 1959) is an Indian politician and social activist from Maharashtra. He is the president of the Republican Party of India (A), a splinter group of the Republican Party of India and has its roots in the S ...

. His death also elicited reaction from

, partly as a result of his son's career in filmdom. These included Madhuri Dixit,

Karan Johar Karan Johar (born Rahul Kumar Johar; 25 May 1972), often informally referred to as KJo in the Hindi Film Industry, is an Indian filmmaker and television personality, who primarily works in Hindi cinema. He has launched the careers of several su ...

Bipasha Basu Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and former model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accolades ...

Dia Mirza Dia Mirza Rekhi (born Dia Handrich; 9 December 1981) is an Indian model, actress, producer, and social worker who predominantly works in Hindi films. Mirza won the title of Miss Asia Pacific International in 2000 after being crowned Femina Mis ...

and

Raveena Tandon Raveena Tandon (born 26 October 1972) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. The daughter of director Ravi Tandon, she made her acting debut in the 1991 action film '' Patthar Ke Phool'', which won her the Filmfare Award for New Face ...

, as well as

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood ...

who called Deshmukh a "wonderful" gentleman and said "I'm feeling very sorry. I have known him (Vilasrao) for years. Riteish is a close friend of mine. I spoke to him. I am very sad, it is very unexpected." His cremation took place on 15 August, India's

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Many ...

at Babhalgaon, his village, in Latur district.

Legacy

• In 2019, Vilasrao Deshmukh Government Medical College, Latur was named after him. • In 2019, Eastern Express Highway was named after him.

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deshmukh, Vilasrao 1945 births 2012 deaths Members of the Cabinet of India Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Chief Ministers of Maharashtra Maharashtra MLAs 1980–1985 Maharashtra MLAs 1985–1990 Maharashtra MLAs 1990–1995 Maharashtra MLAs 1999–2004 Maharashtra MLAs 2004–2009 People from Latur Union Ministers from Maharashtra Deaths from multiple organ failure People from Marathwada Maharashtra district councillors People from Osmanabad district Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Marathi politicians Indian Hindus