A Rajya Sabha member and a Padma Vibhushan awardee, she was 79. Popularly known as Didi, the Gandhian was born in Nagpur in 1929 to Vimlabai and P Y Deshpande, who was also a MP.

She was a familiar figure who accompanied visiting presidents, prime ministers and other dignitaries at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, Raj Ghat. 

She started her career as a lecturer in political science at Morris College, Nagpur. Deshpande had joined Acharya Vinoba Bhave’s bhoodan movement in 1952 and undertook a 40,000 km walk with him.

She had been nominated twice to the Rajya Sabha –– in 1997 and in 2004 and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

Deshpande, who espoused the cause of peace and communal harmony for six decades, was not keeping well for the last three days.

She had returned from Dhanbad on Tuesday after attending a marriage function and was suffering from some gastric problems besides fever.

Prez condoles

President Pratibha Patil, in her message, expressed deep sorrow over the demise of Deshpande, whom she described as an eminent freedom fighter and social worker.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit were among the first to drive to her residence to pay floral tributes to the departed freedom fighter.

In his message, the prime minister described Deshpande as a “living Gandhian”.  Condoling her death, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said she was a person of rare courage and compassion.