Former Governor of Kerala and Bihar, R S Gavai, passed away this afternoon after a prolonged illness at a private hospital here, his family sources said. He was 86.
Gavai is survived by wife Kamal and two sons. The elder son Justice Bhushan Gavai is a Bombay High Court judge of Nagpur bench and younger son Rajendra is leader of RPI (Gavai faction).
His body was taken to Justice Bhushan Gavai's residence in the city and later kept at Deekshabhoomi for his followers to pay the last respects.
The funeral will take at his native village in Daryapur in Amravati district tomorrow, sources said.
Gavai was a former Chairman of the State Legislative Council and Lok Sabha member from Amravati Constituency.
He was the Chairman of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Smarak Samiti, which manages the Deekshabhoomi, the historic place where Dr Ambedkar embraced Buddhism in 1956.
