NCP president Sharad Pawar today paid rich tributes to first Chief Minister of Maharashtra and his "mentor" Yashwantrao Chavan, calling him a "visionary leader".
"Yashwantrao was a visionary leader, hence through panchayats and zilla parishads he promoted the development of ordinary people down to the village level," he said.
Pawar said this after inaugurating a seminar on 'Yashwantrao Chavan and modern Maharashtra', organised by the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University here.
Chavan stressed on decentralisation of power to create leadership at grassroot level, the NCP chief said.
He also said Chavan, who had been the Union Finance Minister at one time, had only Rs 27,000 in his bank account and some 5,000 books in his house when he passed away.
