Mumbai: Former Maharashtra home minister RR Patil, who was suffering from oral cancer, passed away in Mumbai on Monday at the age of 57.
The NCP leader, a six-term MLA from Tasgaon in Sangli district, is survived by his mother, wife, and two daughters.
Earlier today, Dr Sanjay Ogeymoghe, who was monitoring his treatment at the hospital, had said that Patil was on life support system and his condition was “critical but stable”.
The senior NCP leader had been undergoing treatment at the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra for oral cancer.
Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Sunil Tatkare and Chhagan Bhujbal were among party leaders who had visited the hospital to inquire about Patil's health.
Patil, a prominent NCP leader from Sangli in western Maharashtra, was operated upon last December at Breach Candy Hospital and was later shifted to Lilavati Hospital.
Patil was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1990 and appointed Rural Development Minister in the Congress-NCP government in 1999. He was allotted the important Home portfolio in 2003 after the then Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who held it, resigned in the wake of allegations of his involvement in the Telgi scam. He was made Deputy Chief Minister in 2004.
He had to step down as Home Minister after his remarks made in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks that "small incidents do happen in big cities" triggered an outrage.
Patil was appointed Home Minister for a second time in 2009 after the Congress-NCP combine retained power in the state.
He was also the man behind the controversial decision to ban dance bars in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra.
(With PTI Inputs)
