A brief about the man:
Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh was born on May 26, 1945 in Babhalgaon in the Latur district. He graduated with a degree in Science ( B.Sc. ) and Arts ( B.A. ) from M.E.S Abasaheb Garware College, ( Pune University ) and went on to study law ( L.L.B. ) from the ILS Law College(Pune University). He started social activities in his early youth with particular interest in drought relief work. He was elected as the Director of the Osmanabad district Central Cooperative Bank and also of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank in 1979.

Deshmukh entered active politics and became member of the Babhalgaon Village Panchayat from 1974 to 1979 and its Sarpanch (village chief) from 1974 to 1976. He was a member of Osmanabad Zilla Parishad and Deputy Chairman of Latur Taluka Panchayat Samiti (Latur District Panchayat Committee) from 1974 to 1980.

As a President of Osmanabad District Youth Congress from 1975 to 1978, he worked for the implementation of Five Point Programme of the Youth Congress. He organised the youth in Osmanabad district and became President of District wing of the Indian National Congress .

He was Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1995 winning 1980, 1985 and 1990 elections. During this period, as the Minister of State and the Cabinet Minister, Deshmukh handled departments such as Home, General Administration, Cooperation, Public Works, Transport, Legislative Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development Fisheries, Industry, Rural Development, Education, Technical Education, Sports and Youth Welfare,

He has been a minister in various governments in Maharashtra from 1982 to 1995 holding portfolios of revenue, cooperation, agriculture, home, industries and education.

He lost the elections in 1995 with a margin of 35,000. He was re-elected to the State Legislature from Latur Constituency in the elections held in September 1999 with a strong comeback winning with a margin of nearly 91,000 in two successive election, the highest in Maharashtra. He took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on October 18, 1999. He was Chief Minister till 17 January 2003, but had to step down in January 2003 and make way for Sushilkumar Shinde , a prominent Dalit member of Congress, following factionalism in the state unit of the party.

He was re-elected to the State Legislative Assembly from Latur Constituency in the Elections held in October 2004.

He took oath of Chief Ministership for the second time on November 1, 2004. In the aftermath of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks , he was forced to resign due to inept handling of the crisis.

He also drew criticism for taking his son Ritesh and a film director on tour of Taj Hotel on 2 December 2008.

He subsequently entered the Rajya Sabha and was appointed to the Council of Ministers as Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 28 May 2009.

He was appointed as Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises on 19 January 2011 cabinet reshuffle. Later on he was appointed Minister of Rural Development.

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The World Peace Centre has organised a programme at Rameshwar (Rui) village in Latur district on April 9 wherein a temple and a mosque will be handed over to the public. These structures, which were demolished due to religious conflicts in the past, have now been reconstructed jointly by the both Hindu and Muslim communities. A conference on communal harmony will also be held on the occasion.

“The ancient Ram temple was destroyed during the battle between the Peshwas and the Nizam of Hyderabad around 275 years ago, while the mosque and Dargah were destroyed about 63 years ago in violence during the Razakar movement,” said Vishwanath Karad, president of the organising committee.

Karad said Union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde and state minister for public works Chhagan Bhujbal will be present for the programme. tnnalong with Hindu and Muslim scholars and spiritual leaders who will express their views on Hindu-Muslim unity, religion and communal harmony.

This small video tells about how Indian Tricolor was first time seen in Latur. An interesting insight about the freedom struggle in Latur.