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The political ascent of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who died on Tuesday, had been meteoric. From being the sarpanch of a village, he became a Union Cabinet Minister in a little over 30 years.
Born in 1945 to a landlord family, he was trained to be a practising lawyer. However, just before he turned 30, he entered active politics. From then onwards, there was no looking back. From panchayat politics, Deshmukh became a zilla parishad member and then vaulted to the legislative assembly.
Even though Deshmukh’s name has been embroiled in many controversies, most recently in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, he remained a grassroots leader and was widely respected within the Congress party.
His career was permanently besmirched by the inept handling of the floods of July 26, 2006, and the November 26, 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, the officer said. Veteran political commentator Nagesh Kesari said that Deshmukh had good political IQ, which he used in tackling his opponents. He came with no political lineage or aura, but managed to create his own support base, Kesari added.
The State Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, in his condolence message said, “We never saw Vilasrao sick or nervous. He always stood gracefully and faced all challenges with a smile on his face. He was not only popular in the party, but had won many friends in the opposition parties also.”.
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