Dattatraya Ekbote is survived by two daughters and a grandson. (Representational)Within days of losing his 45-year-old son to Covid-19, socialist leader and former Pune mayor Dattatraya Ekbote himself succumbed to the infection in Sassoon General Hospital at Wednesday midnight. He was 84 years old.
Ekbote had recently tested positive for the disease, but couldn’t get admission in a private hospital due to unavailability of beds. He was finally admitted to the government-run Sassoon Hospital.
As his condition deteriorated, his family members informed Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and city MP Girish Bapat about his condition, to ensure proper treatment to the leader.
Even his cremation was delayed, and his body had to be transported from one crematorium to another, due to the delay in each crematorium for disposal of the bodies of Covid-19 victims.
Ekbote is survived by two daughters and a grandson. He had earlier been with the Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal, and later joined the NCP.