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Rajeev Satav remembered fondly, Maharashtra leaders say his death a ‘great loss’
Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar said Satav had friends in all political parties.
Maharashtra Congress leaders have described parliamentarian Rajeev Satav’s death as a major setback to the party’s state unit while expressing shock at the demise of the young leader, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha just a year ago. Satav died owing to secondary pneumonia with multiple-organ dysfunction syndrome on Sunday morning, a news agency quoted Pune’s Jehangir Hospital authorities as saying.
Former chief minister and state revenue minister Ashok Chavan said Satav’s death was saddening. “We have lost a talented leader who had [a] great future. He had carved a niche at national level after starting his political career at district level. He was [the] pride of Maharashtra and had created curiosity about his leadership across the nation. His passing is a great loss for Maharashtra and especially for Marathwada,” he said.
Satav was admitted to Jehangir Hospital on April 23 with acute respiratory distress syndrome and severe Covid-19 pneumonia and tested negative for the infection on May 9, hospital authorities said. However, due to complications, he was put on ventilator support a few days ago and breathed his last this morning.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said Rajeev Satav was known as a young, dynamic and scholastic leader. “The sad demise of the Congress Working Committee’s convenor is shocking,” Pawar tweeted in Marathi.
Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari called Satav a leader known for his “leadership qualities and organisational abilities”. “Death has snatched away a promising leader with great potential,” he said.
Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar said Satav had friends in all political parties. “Very close confidante and a friend to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Rajeev shared cordial, friendly relations with leaders from other parties. He was a decent face in Indian politics. We have lost a good-natured person,” he said.
Earlier today, Rahul Gandhi said he was “very sad” at the loss of his “friend Rajeev Satav”. “He was a leader with huge potential who embodied the ideals of the Congress. It’s a big loss for us all,” Gandhi had tweeted. His sister and Congress general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi, described him as “one of our brightest colleagues” and said he was “clean of heart, sincere, deeply committed”.
Leader of opposition in the legislative assembly Devendra Fadnavis said, “Rajeev Satav’s passing is shocking and saddening. We have lost a young, promising and studious leader in him. I pray to [the] almighty to give all [the] strength to his family to face the loss.”
Satav was a legislator from Hingoli district and won the Lok Sabha election in 2014 when Congress could win only two seats in Maharashtra. He, however, chose not to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections citing his responsibility in Gujarat, where he was looking into organisational matters and election management of the party. He was later elected to Rajya Sabha.
