Congress leader Patangrao Kadam passes away

Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Patangrao Kadam passed away at Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital on Friday.

The 72-year-old was suffering from renal dysfunction and had recently been admitted to the hospital.

Kadam has previously helmed the forest ministry in the Maharashtra government. He was also an educationist and the founder of Bharati Vidyapeeth.

He is survived by his son, Vishwajeet Kadam, who is Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress president.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to extend his condolences over Kadam's demise. "My deepest condolences on the unfortunate demise of Senior Congress leader and educationist Patangrao Kadam ji. This is an irreparable loss to the Congress party. My love and support to his family in this hour of grief," he tweeted.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also condoled the death of Congress leader.

"With the sudden demise of Dr. Patangrao Kadam ji, we have lost a great educationalist, social and political leader! His contribution in building cooperative sector will be remembered forever," he tweeted.

"He was the 1st person to pass SSC from his native village; had to travel 5-6 km every day to attend school. Keeping in mind his own pain he started Bharati Vidyapeeth in 1964 to serve society & provide education to all. My deepest condolences to his family and followers!" he added.

The last rites of Kadam will be performed in Pune at Sonhira Sugar factory, Sangli on Saturday at 4:00 p.m., the Twitter handle Maharashtra unit of Congress Party informed.