Ex-PM PV Narasimha Rao’s OSD Ram Khandekar passes away at 87

A distinguished bureaucrat, Khandekar worked as the personal secretary to former Maharashtra chief minister and former defence minister YB Chavan. Later, he was engaged by then Union minister, PV Narasimha Rao, to manage his Lok Sabha constituency of Ramtek in Nagpur district in 1985

After battling a prolonged illness, Ram Khandekar, who worked as Officer on Special Duty to the former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, passed away at his Laxminagar residence in Nagpur early Wednesday morning. He was 87.

Ram Khandekar. (ANI)

He is survived by his son, Mukul, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren. The family said his last rites were performed at Amazhari crematorium at 10am.

A distinguished bureaucrat, Khandekar worked as the personal secretary to former Maharashtra chief minister and former defence minister YB Chavan. Later, he was engaged by then Union minister, PV Narasimha Rao, to manage his Lok Sabha constituency of Ramtek in Nagpur district in 1985. In 1991, when Rao became the Prime Minister of the country, Khandekar was inducted into the core committee of the Prime Minister’s Office and was appointed as his OSD. He was considered Rao’s closest confidante and worked with the former prime minister till the latter’s death.

Apart from his bureaucratic career, Khandekar often wrote for scores of Marathi newspapers and penned at least 60-70 articles for different Diwali issues of mainstream Marathi newspapers. These articles were based on his experience working with the former prime minister and other political leaders of the time.

In 2018, he started writing a weekly column for a Marathi daily. He penned down the intricacies of living in the shadow of power and public life in his over five-decade-long career. A compilation of the same was published as a book in 2019.