Former Maharashtra minister Eknath Gaikwad dies of Covid

Mumbai. A two-term Lok Sabha and three-time Maharashtra assembly member, Gaikwad was hospitalised over two weeks ago

Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Eknath Gaikwad, 81, on Wednesday passed away at a Mumbai hospital, where he was under treatment for Covid-19.

A two-term Lok Sabha and three-time Maharashtra assembly member, Gaikwad was hospitalised over two weeks ago.

Gaikwad was a Dalit face of the Congress, who enjoyed much sway in Dharavi, where one of Asia’s largest slums is located. He was the health, medical education, social justice minister when Vilasrao Deshmukh was the chief minister from 1999 to 2004.