The lone Congress MP from Maharashtra, Suresh alias Balu Dhanorkar passed away early Tuesday morning following a brief illness, party officials said here.
Dhanorkar, 47 -- representing Chandrapur -- was ailing for some time and had been admitted to the Medanta Hospital in New Delhi where he breathed his last around 3.30 a.m.
He is survived by his wife, Pratibha Dhanorkar (Warora Congress MLA) and their two sons, said state Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe.
This was a double tragedy for the leading Warora family -- three days ago, Narayan Dhanorkar, 80 -- the father of Suresh and father-in-law of Pratibha -- passed away after an illness in Nagpur on last Saturday.
As Suresh Dhanorkar was hospitalised in New Delhi, he could not attend his father's last journey on Sunday.
Londhe said that Dhanorkar's body will be flown to Nagpur and then taken to his native village in Warora this afternoon to enable people pay their last respects.
The last rites shall be performed at the nearby Warora crematorium on Wednesday morning around 11 a.m., he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi grieved the passing of Dhanorkar and said: "He will be remembered for his contribution to public service and empowering the poor."
Top Congress leaders, including state President Nana Patole, Balasaheb Thorat, Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan, M. Arif Naseem Khan, Yashomati Thakur, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, and many more expressed shock and condoled the passing of Dhanorkar.
Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders like Sharad Pawar, Jayant Patil, Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Chhagan Bhujbal, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Kishore Tiwari and others have also mourned the demise of Dhanorkar.
The ruling Shiv Sena Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Bharatiya Janata Party state President Chandrashekhar Bawankule, and others also grieved the passing of Dhanorkar.
Dhanorkar, who started his political career with the Shiv Sena in the early-2000s and joined the Congress in 2019, had undergone a bariatric surgery several years ago to manage his weight.
He had been admitted to a private hospital in Nagpur for a kidney stone surgery last Friday, but after certain complications developed, he was rushed in an air-ambulance to the New Delhi hospital where the end came early today.
(With inputs from IANS)
