Vilasrao Deshmukh

Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh ( _mr. विलासराव dagadojirao देशमुख) (born May 26 1945) is the current Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He is a member of the Congress party and originally belongs to Latur district in the Marathwada region of the state of Maharashtra. He is the father of Bollywood actor Ritesh Deshmukh.

Early life and family

Deshmukh was born on May 26, 1945 in Babhalgaon in the Latur district. He graduated with a degree in Science (B.Sc.) and Arts (B.A.) from M.E.S Abasaheb Garware College, (Pune University) and went on to study law (L.L.B.) from the ILS Law College (Pune University). He started social activities in his early youth with particular interest in drought relief work. He was elected as the Director of the Osmanabad district Central Cooperative Bank and also of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank in 1979.

His wife is Vaishali Deshmukh, and he has three sons, Amit, Ritesh and Dheeraj.

Political career

Deshmukh entered active politics and became member of the Babhalgaon Village Panchayat from 1974 to 1979 and its Sarpanch (village chief) from 1974 to 1976. He was a member of Osmanabad Zilla Parishad and Deputy Chairman of Latur Taluka Panchayat Samiti (Latur District Panchayat Committee) from 1974 to 1980.

As a President of Osmanabad District Youth Congress from 1975 to 1978, he worked for the implementation of Five Point Programme of the Youth Congress. He organised the youth in Osmanabad district and became President of District wing of the Indian National Congress.

He was Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1995. During this period, as the Minister of State and the Cabinet Minister, Deshmukh handled departments such as Home, General Administration, Cooperation, Public Works, Transport, Legislative Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development Fisheries, Industry, Rural Development, Education, Technical Education, Sports and Youth Welfare,

He lost the elections in1995 with a margin of 35,000.He was re-elected to the State Legislature from Latur Constituency in the elections held in September 1999 with a strong comeback winning with a margin of nearly 80,000 in two successive electionthe highest in maharashtra. He took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on October 18, 1999. He was Chief Minister till 17 January 2003, but had to step down in January 2003 and make way for Sushilkumar Shinde, a prominent Dalit member of Congress, following factionalism in the state unit of the party.

He was re-elected to the State Legislative Assembly from Latur Constituency in the Elections held in October 2004.

He has been a minister in various governments in Maharashtra from 1982 to 1995 holding portfolios of revenue, cooperation, agriculture, home, industries and education.

He took oath of Chief Ministership for the second time on November 1, 2004.

Manjra Project

From April 1995 to October 17, 1999, when he was not in the government, Deshmukh kept himself engaged in expansion of the Manjra Co-op. Sugar Mill. The Mill established a world record in 1994-95 and in 1997-98 by crushing the highest quantity of sugarcane Fact|date=May 2008. It has won 34 awards on national and international level for excellence in production and management Fact|date=May 2008. Currently he is chief minister of Maharastra.

Educational activities

Deshmukh founded the Manjra Charitable Trust which runs a number of colleges in Latur & Mumbai. Some of them are Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology at Versova, Andheri in Mumbai and Sushiladevi Deshmukh Vidyalaya at Airoli, Navi Mumbai.

His interests include reading, classical music, volleyball and table tennis.