Ex-Council Chairman Gavai's memorial to come up in Amravati

The foundation stone of a memorial to commemorate former Maharashtra Legislative Council Chairman R S Gavai was laid here today by Maharashtra Minister of State for Minerals and Amravati District Guardian Minister Pravin Pote.
The memorial will come up in the sprawling 10-acre land of Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis, who was to perform the 'bhoomipujan', could not attend the event as his aircraft could not land due to poor visibility.
Speaking on the occasion, Pote said the memorial will be a state-of-art 1200 seating capacity auditorium with a full size statue, four other small conference halls and a gallery to accommodate his numerous photographs and memorabilia.

The Chief Minister is said to have taken personal interest in the memorial and chaired a number of meetings to finalise the project.
Justice Bhushan Gavai, who is eldest son of the late Dalilt leader, wife Kamal Gavai, legislators Sunil Deshmukh, Anil Bonde, Yashomati Thakur and Ravi Rana along with former minister Gulabrao Gawande attended the event.

Pote said the state government will soon initiate the work and Fadanvis will be visiting Amravati on October 30 on the occasion of Gavai's birth anniversary.
As per primary estimates, the entire project will cost around Rs 125 crore.
Gavai was a member of the State Legislative Council from 1968-78. Later, he served as its Chairman from 1978-82. He was also Opposition Leader in the Council from 1986-88.

He was a Lok Sabha member from 1998-99 and became a Rajya Sabha member from 2000.
Gavai was appointed as Governor of Bihar in June 2006 to July 2008 and served as Kerala Governor from July 2008 to August 2011.