Former minister of state for finance and heavy industries Balasaheb Vikhe Patil died at the age of 84 on Friday after a prolonged illness, PTI reported. The Congress leader passed away at his home in the Loni village in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, his family said.
Ahmednagar District Collector Anil Kawade said Patil’s last rites will be conducted with full state honours at Loni on Saturday. The former minister had not made many public appearances in recent years because of his illness, according to the report.
Originally a member of the Congress, Patil was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 on a Shiv Sena ticket. He was made minister of state for finance in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government before being given the heavy industries portfolio. He rejoined the Congress in 2004, the year the party-led United Progressive Alliance government won Parliamentary elections in the country.
Patil’s son, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, is a member of the Congress and currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.
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