Ex-Union minister of state Shantaram Potdukhe no more

Chandrapur: Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister of state for finance, Shantaram Potdukhe, passed away at a private hospital in Nagpur on Sunday. He was 86 and was ailing for the last few days.
Born on January 30, 1932, Shantaram completed his high school education from Jubilee High School here. He also pursued BA and bachelor of journalism from Nagpur University.
He also participated in Goa Liberation Movement and also United Maharashtra Movement.Shantaram was also instrumental in the publication of a weekly Vividh Bharthi in 1958 and worked as a journalist for a decade. Later he joined politics and was elected as Lok Sabha member in 1980 as a Congress candidate. He went on to represent Chandrapur constituency for four consecutive terms from 1980 to 1995.
During the reign of Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, Potdukhe served as Union minister of state for finance, deputy to then FM Manmohan Singh.
Though after his defeat in election at the hands of Hansraj Ahir in 1996 he retired from active politics, Shantaram continued to be active in social, cultural and education fields. He also served as president of Sarvodaya Sikshan Mandal, Sardar Patel Memorial Trust and Lokseva Ani Vikas Sansthan.
In recognition to his contribution in the social fields, he was honoured with first Adarsh Samaj Bhushan Award by Gondwana University, Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar by Nagpur University and Chandrapur Bhushan Award.
He is survived by son Bharat, daughter Bharti (Reema) and a large family. The last rites were performed at Shantidham crematorium here with state honours. States finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Union minister of state for home affairs, Hansraj Ahir, former MP Naresh Puglia, MLA Vijay Wadettiwar, MLA Nana Shamkule and many others were present on the occasion.