Pune:- Academician and politician, Dr Devisingh Ransingh Shekhawat – the husband of former President Pratibha Patil – passed away here on Friday morning, official sources said.
He was 88 and breathed his last at the KEM Hospital. He is survived by his ex-President wife, a son Rajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is a Congress leader, and a daughter Jyoti Rathod.
According to the sources, Shekhawat had a fall while on a morning morning constitutional outside their house lawns in Pune on February 12.
He had undergone a surgery for it but later developed several other complications including high blood pressure, kidney failures, etc, leading to his demise.
Sources revealed that his wife Pratibha, 89 – who was India’s first woman President (2007-2012) – is in shock by the sudden loss of her husband of 60 years (since 1962) – and is being consoled and cared for by her family members.
An agriculturist and academician-turned-politician, Shekhawat hailed from Amravati – where he served as the first Mayor (1991-1992), and also as a Maharashtra MLA (1985-1990).