Here we wish a very happy birthday to Hon. Vilasraoji Deshmukh.

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.

Shivraj Patil, seven time Member of Parliament from Latur was sworn in as Governor of Punjab on 22nd January, 2010.

Shivraj Vishwanath Patil,born October 12, 1935 is a member of the Rajya Sabha from Congress party. Previously he had been the Speaker of the 11th Lok Sabha and served the Manmohan Singh cabinet as the Union Minister of Home Affairs.

He has also served the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi cabinets as the defence minister during the 80′s. He resigned from the post of Home-Minister on November 30, 2008 following widespread criticism raised after terrorist attacks on Mumbai. He resigned taking the moral responsibility for the attacks.

Patil was born in 1935 in the village of Chakur in the Latur district. He attended Osmania University, Hyderabad, earning a graduation degree in Science and studied Law at Bombay University. During 1967-69, he was involved in local government (Latur Municipality).Patil belongs to the Lingayat community. He married Vijaya Patil in June 1963.

Between 1972-79, he was member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for two terms during which time he held various positions such as Chairman of Public Undtertakings Committee, Deputy Minister (Las & Judiciary, Irrigation, Protocol), Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and Speaker of the Assembly.In 1980, he got elected to the 7th Lok Sabha. By 1999 (13th Lok Sabha), he had won seven successive Lok Sabha elections in 1980, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998 and 1999.

With the Assembly election fever catching up, here are few updates on the front.

1) Latur City seat has gone to ShivSena in the distribution amongst BJP & Shiv Sena. Ad Balwant Jadhav and Pappu Kulkarni are the two names being discussed as contestant from the seat.

2) Latur Rural seat will be with BJP. Ramesh Karad is the name being discussed the most for the seat. However, Shivajirao Patil Kavekar is also one name in the talks for the seat.

3) Amit Deshmukh’s name is among the most discussed for Latur City amongst the Congress front. Also the name of Parent Minister Diliprao Deshmukh is making rounds.

4) Satish Kale {Son of Late Babruvanji Kale} is one prominent name the has emerged out for Latur Rural seat from Congress side.

More updates as they appear..

The Maharashtra government is gearing up for a cloud-seeding experiment in Latur and rest Marathwada. The region has recieved only 15% of its usual rainfall till date.
State additional chief secretary, relief and rehabilitation, M Rameshkumar explained the government had to proceed on cloud-seeding plans right now if it wanted the experiment to succeed. “We have to do it now when climate conditions are favourable,” he said. A seven-member team of central government officials recently visited Latur along with other districts like Nanded, Sangli, Solapur, Yavatmal and Chandrapur to take stock of the drought situation.
Though the region houses the constituencies of Congress stalwarts former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh (Latur) and chief minister Ashok Chavan (Mudkhed); senior state government officials have discounted any role of politics in the decision.

We wish the experiment to succeed.

The heavy industries Minister Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh recently announced a 1600 MW power project for Latur. The 9000 Cr investment project will be a joint venture between the two governement companies “BHEL” and “MahaGenCo”.
This will be second biggest power project in Marathwada after Parli.

The minister also announced a foreign investment project for Latur to be coming soon. Way to Go Mantriji..

With Mr Jaywantrao Awale announcing that Amit Deshmukh is congres candidate for Laur City Assembly Constituency, the super legacy of Mr Vilasraoji Deshmukh and the development flow of the city is sure to continue to flow in Latur.
Best Wishes to Mr Deshmukh from Laturkar Team.

The recent list of New cabinet ministers in the Central government has one name which will make every Laturkar happy and Proud. The name in Vilasrao Deshmukh.
The former Chief Minister will be inducted into the Union Cabinet tomorrow (May 28) when the Union Council of Ministers will be expanded to take in 59 more ministers.

One of the longest serving Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh’s debut in the Union Cabinet marks his move from state to national politics.

64-year-old Deshmukh’s journey in politics began as a village sarpanch in Latur district and the Marathi leader steadily rose in the ranks to assume the top post in the state twice.

He had been a minister in various governments in Maharashtra from 1982 to 1995 holding the portfolios of revenue, cooperation, agriculture, home, industries and education which is testimony to his extensive experience in the legislature and administration.

Deshmukh became chief minister in 1999 but had to step down in January 2003 and make way for Sushilkumar Shinde, a prominent Dalit face of Congress, following factionalism in the state unit of the party.

In 2004 Assembly elections, he again became chief minister, a post which he had to vacate in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack.

We congratulate every Laturkar for the success and wish that the progress of Latur will continue in same magnificient pace.