Vasant Chavan, Congress MP from Nanded Lok Sabha constituency, passes away at Hyderabad hospital

Mumbai: Veteran politician and Congress MP from Nanded, Vasant Chavan, died at 69, following a prolonged illness on Monday.

He is the first MP from the newly elected 18th Lok Sabha, who passed away.

Chavan passed away at KIMS Hospital in Hyderabad, where he was admitted a few days ago following multiple compilations and breathlessness. 

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said, “Pained to know about the sad demise of Vasant Chavan, MP from Nanded. My heartfelt condolences to his family members and relatives. May his pious soul attain eternal peace.”

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat among others condoled the death of Chavan.

"The news of the demise of a senior leader of Congress party, MP of Nanded Lok Sabha Constituency Vasantrao Chavan is very shocking. He always remained loyal to the Congress party even in adverse conditions and brought the idea of the Congress party home...The entire Congress party is with the Chavan family in this grief," Patole said. 

In Lok Sabha Elections 2024, Chavan had defeated sitting MP of BJP Prataprao Patil Chikhalikar by 59,442 votes under difficult and challenging circumstances. 

The Nanded constituency is one of the prestigious seats in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra as the district has given two chief ministers - late Shankarrao Chavan and his son Ashok Chavan. 

The Congress in Nanded was weakened after veteran Ashok Chavan switched over to the BJP to become a Rajya Sabha member. 

Starting political life as a sarpanch of Naigaon village in 1978, Chavan worked his way up the political ranks as President of Zilla Parishad, and then was elected to both houses of Maharashtra legislature, serving for a total of over 16 years. 

In 2009, he was elected as an MLA from Naigaon, in Nanded as an Independent and in 2014 as a Congress member.

As a legislator, Chavan served in various capacities in different committees of the state government and was also active in the academic field, serving as President of the Janata High School in Nanded. 

He was the trustee and chairperson of Janta Highschool and College of Agriculture in Naigaon.