Mumbai, Feb 23: Former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi passed away at a Mumbai hospital on Friday, where he was admitted after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Joshi (86) was admitted to Hinduja Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on February 21 and passed away early on Friday, the private medical facility said.
Joshi Sir, as he was popularly known, was the first chief minister of the undivided Shiv Sena and held the post from 1995-1999.
He was admitted to the hospital in May last year after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
He was also elected as a member of Parliament and was the Lok Sabha Speaker from 2002 to 2004 when the Vajpayee government was in power.
Born on December 2, 1937 in coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra, Joshi obtained his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute in Mumbai.
His political career began with his involvement in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and he later became a member of the Shiv Sena. In the 1980s, Joshi emerged as a key leader within the Shiv Sena, and was known for his organisational skills.
He was the Lok Sabha Speaker from 2002 to 2004 when the Vajpayee government was in power.
The former Union minister was married to Anagha Joshi, who died in 2020 at the age of 75. He is survived by a son and two daughters.
Joshi began his career as a teacher and entered politics in 1967. He was associated with the Shiv Sena for more than four decades.
Condoling Joshi's demise, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who was a member of the Maharashtra ministry when the former was the CM, said the state had lost a “cultured face” of politics.
Joshi's family said his last rites would be performed at Shivaji Park crematorium in Dadar area.
