Mumbai: Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and a veteran Congressman Abdul Rahman Antulay, widely known as A. R. Antulay passed away on Tuesday morning. He was 85. He also served as the Union Minister for Minority Affairs in the UPA-I government.
The funeral will take place at his native Ambet village in the state’s Raigad district on Wednesday, said news agency PTI.
The veteran Congress leader had been admitted to Breach Candy Hospital around a month ago for severe kidney ailment. He had renal failure a year-and-a-half ago.
Antulay had been a heart patient for years. He underwent a bypass surgery in 1985 and a pacemaker was fitted in 1993.
Mr. Antulay was the first and only Muslim Chief Minister of Maharashtra during the years 1980 to 1982. However he had to resign from his post following allegation of corruption. He was convicted in an extrotion case by the Bombay High Court.
Later, he worked as party MLA and MP, representing the Congress in Raigad district. He fought his last election in 2009, which he lost to the Shiv Sena, after which he was out of the active politics.
He was minister in the Congress-led UPA 1 government but was sidelined soon after his controversial comment on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in 2008.
Mr. Antulay had questioned the circumstances of Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief, Hemant Karkare’s death in the Mumbai terror attack on 26 Nov 2008. The party had distanced itself from his comment and soon he was removed from the union cabinet. He had suggested that there should be a probe into the circumstances of Karkare’s killing.
