Former Maharashtra minister Sanjay Deotale dies due to cardiac arrest

Former Maharashtra minister Sanjay Deotale died following a cardiac arrest while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Nagpur on Sunday, his family sources said.

He was 58.

While undergoing treatment at the private hospital, his oxygen level deteriorated and he breathed his last around 2.15 pm after suffering a cardiac arrest, they said.

Deotale was minister for environment and cultural affairs in 2012 when Prithviraj Chavan was the chief minister.

He had started his political career as a Zilla Parishad member from Madheli-Nagri circle in Warora tehsil in 1991.

Deotale had contested and won his first Assembly election from Warora-Bhadravati Constituency in 1995. He was elected from the same seat in 2000, 2005, and 2009 as a Congress candidate. He had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election in 2014.

Before the 2014 state Assembly election, Deotale had left the Congress after the party denied him a ticket. He joined the BJP and contested an election, which he lost.

Ahead of the 2019 state polls, Deotale had quit the BJP and joined the Shiv Sena. However, he could not win that election.

A few months back, he had rejoined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Nitin Gadkari.