At 102, Keshavrao Dhondge is oldest living Maharashtra legislator

MUMBAI: At 102 years, Keshavrao Dhondge is the oldest living elected representative in Maharashtra, with five terms in the state legislature and one as a member of Parliament.
The battles he fought for the common people on the streets and in the assembly still draws awe and admiration from MLAs, MLCs across party lines. On Wednesday, the legislature honoured him on the occasion of the 75th Independence anniversary.
"He was very passionate about education and it agitated him greatly that there were no schools in his assembly constituency Kandhare in Nanded district in Marathwada where he hailed from. One day he made a fiery speech on the issue in the House and Kamal Kishore Kadam who was the school education minister immediately said he would sanction a school wherever he wanted. He immediately drew up a list of 42 villages in Nanded and Kadam sanctioned them all in one stroke," reminisced senior legislator Eknath Khadse.
Khadse recalled that he had a term as MLA while the veteran was in the assembly. "When Dhondge spoke, the House listened with all seriousness, such was the man's commitment to the people," said Khadse.
Dhondge belonged to the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP). Agitations, demonstrations came naturally to him. He had participated in the Hyderabad Independence Movement, then the Samyukta Maharashtra movement and even fought against the Emergency for which he spent time in jail. Neelam Gorhe, acting chairperson of the legislative council, was in charge of Prakash Ambedkar's poll campaign from Nanded in the 80's when she first met Dhondge. "I worked alongside him. His books reflect his progressive and reformist mind," she said. Gorhe said his efforts in education and social sectors equaled his political legacy. "He pushed the government to publish the works of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, to unveil the portrait of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule in the Vidhan Bhavan and to make mandatory the singing of Vande Mataram before the start of a session," she said. Jayant Patil of PWP recounted how he learnt journalism from Dhondge who launched a newspaper "Jai Kranti" to take his views to the masses. "He always said his mother was his inspiration," said Patil. "Even at 102 he is sharp and aware of social trends. His speeches are quoted even today by legislators," he said.