Mumbai, Nov 12: Madhu Dandavate, former Union
Minister and a veteran Socialist parliamentarian, known for his incisive speeches laced with wit and humour from the opposition benches, died today at a private hospital here after a prolonged battle against cancer.
He was 81 and is survived by his lone son Uday, who was
by his bedside when the end came at around 20:00 hrs. His wife
Prameela, also a noted Socialist leader and champion for
women`s cause, had died more than three years ago. The couple
were together in the Lok Sabha for one term.
The last of the gentle, erudite politicians, Dandavate
was a five-time MP from 1971 to 1990 from Rajapur in the
Konkan region of Maharashtra and was a leading light of the
opposition during the days of Indira Gandhi and later her son
Rajiv Gandhi as prime ministers.
He was Railway Minister in the Morarji Desai government
in the post-emergency years and Finance Minister in the
short-lived V P Singh government. He had also played a leading
role in the conception of Konkan Railway Project.
Dandavate was admitted in hospital on October 19. His
body would be kept in the Janata Dal office here on November
14 to enable public to pay homage.
Dandavate`s constituency of Rajapur was earlier held by
Socialist leader Nath Pai. Prameela had won from Central
Mumbai in 1980.
After his loss to Major Sudhir Sawant of the Congress in
1991, Dandavate could recover from the defeat and slowly faded
away from national politics, though he kept himself active
with his writings.
In the recent past, Dandavate was associated with Janata
Dal (S) led by former Prime Minister H D Devegowda and was his
close associate.
Known for his simplicity, Dandavate with his booming
voice and effective articulation made intelligent use of the
Zero Hour in Parliament to raise issues of public importance
and to keep the government on tenterbooks.
One of his major interventions during the enactment of
the Anti-Defection Law in 1985 was the incorporation of a
safety clause to allow dissent.
He piloted the clause that did away with the original
provision in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution that would
have allowed automatic disqualifaction of a member from
Parliament and assemblies if the party chose to expel him.
Under the amended law, an expelled member of a party only
ceases to be a member of that party, but retains his seat in
Parliament or assemblies.
A well-read and travelled man, Dandavate had been a
Professor of nuclear physics in the Siddharth College of
Mumbai set up by B R Ambedkar.
Born on January 21, 1924 in Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, he
took part in the Quit India movement in 1942 and actively
participated in the Socialist movement since 1946.
He led a batch of Satyagrahis in Goa during the
liberation movement against Portuguese colonialism. He was
elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council from the
Bombay City graduates constituency in 1970 and was elected to
the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1971 from Rajapur.
A successful parliamentarian, he had visited many
countries and authored several books.
The body of former Union Minister
Madhu Dandavate would be handed over
to the J J Hospital in keeping with his wishes, family sources
said here today.
The body would be kept at the Janata Dal office here on
November 14 between 10 am to 3 pm to enable people to pay
their last respects and would be later handed over to the J J
Hospital as Dandavate had donated his body, the sources said.
Bureau Report
