Basavaraj Patil Humnabad, former Minister, died in Humnabad on Wednesday. He was 75. His son, Rajshekar Patil, is a Congress MLA from Humnabad.
Basavaraj Humnabad was suffering from age-related illnesses for over a year, family sources said.
He is survived by his wife Umadevi, four sons and three daughters. His first wife, Shakuntala, died decades ago.
He held the Animal Husbandry and Power portfolios of the S. Bangarappa and S.M. Krishna Ministries.
He was one of the few leaders in the State to have served long terms in the two Houses of the legislature as a nominee of three different parties. Basavaraj Humnabad served four terms as a member of the Legislative Assembly between 1978 and 1994. He was also MLC from 1998-2016.
His political career spanning 45 years began with a defeat in the Assembly polls of 1972 where he contested as an Independent. Communist party strongman N.V. Patil defeated him then. Later, Basavraj Humnabad joined the Janata Party and became the president of the Humnabad City Municipal Council. He won the 1978 Assembly polls on Janata Party ticket. He was among the 20 legislators who quit the Janata Party to join the Congress along with senior leader Veerendra Patil in 1980.
He went on to serve as the District Congress Committee president twice in Bidar in the 1980s and 1990s. He was defeated by Mirajuddin Patel of the Janata Dal(S) in 1994. From 1998 to 2010, he served the Legislative Council as a Congress member. In 2010, he joined the BJP and won the Legislative Council polls. He stayed in the BJP till his death.
Born to Havigeppa Patil, an influential land owner and money lender, Basavaraj Humnabad had little formal schooling. He was, however, known for his sharp political acumen and common sense. He had married off his sons and daughters into Lingayat families with political clout. The Humnabad family is related to the Nagamarapalli family of Aurad, the Khandre family of Bhalki, the Patil family from Nanded in Maharashtra and the Patil family of Zaheerabad in Telangana.
Basavaraj Humnabad was one of the strongest supporters of senior Congress leader M. Mallikarjun Kharge, despite his political affiliations.
He also started the Shakuntala Patil residential school in memory of his wife.