Congress MP Vasant Chavan passes away

NANDED: Congress MP Vasant Chavan passed away on Monday at a private hospital in Hyderabad after prolonged illness, party sources said.

Chavan (69) breathed his last at the hospital around 4 am, the sources said. He was undergoing treatment for renal issues there since last week.

The Congress veteran had won the Nanded Lok Sabha seat this year despite ill health and big desertions, including that of former CM Ashok Chavan, who joined BJP ahead of the polls.

Soon after the Lok Sabha election results were out, Vasant Chavan had thanked Ashok Chavan for defecting to BJP.

In the Lok Sabha election, Vasant Chavan defeated sitting BJP MP Pratap Patil Chikhalikar by 59,442 votes, overcoming issues like a weakened party after Ashok Chavan defected to BJP just before the elections and his own personal health problems.

Born in Naigaon in Nanded district, Vasant Chavan was a gram panchayat member for a long time and later became a zilla parishad member in 1990 and 2002.

He was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council in 2002 and became a member of the state legislative assembly from Naigaon assembly seat. He was an MLA from 2009 to 2014.

He was also the chairman of Nanded District Central Cooperative Bank from 2021 to 2023.

His last rites will be performed in Naigaon at 11 am, the sources said.