Vadodara: Veteran Gujarat tribal leader and 10-time MLA Mohansinh Rathwa died at the age of 82 at his home in Umarva village in Chhota Udepur on Sunday. Rathwa’s health had deteriorated over the last four years and he had since withdrawn from active politics.“Mohansinh Rathwa was known not only as a politician but as a strong leader fighting for the rights of the tribal community. This leader, who was connected to the land, had been away from active politics for a long time due to ill health and was fighting against the illness and breathed his last today,” his son Rajendrasinh Rathwa wrote in a post on X.“The sad demise of my revered father, who made public service his life’s work, has caused an irreparable loss to our family. The dedicated work he did for social service, public welfare and human values throughout his life will always inspire us. Om Shanti,” he added in the post.Rathwa’s political journey began in 1965 when he was elected as a sarpanch before contesting and winning the Pavi Jetpur assembly seat on a Congress ticket in 1972. He also joined the Janata Party and Janata Dal in between and was elected as MLA from both parties before winning the 1998 election on a Congress ticket.The Sukhi irrigation scheme is popularly credited to Rathwa, who was also a minister in the Congress govt from 1990 to 1995. He lost an assembly election only once against BJP in 2002 when the elections were held against the backdrop of Godhra riots.Ahead of the 2022 assembly election, Rathwa joined BJP along with his son, Rajendrasinh Rathwa, who was elected an MLA from Chhota Udepur assembly seat in the same year. State forest minister Arjun Modhwadia said on X, “His dedicated life for public service, public welfare and the upliftment of the tribal community will always be an inspiration. It will be a memorable experience for me to have had the opportunity to work with him in the Gujarat legislative assembly.“State BJP president Jagdish Vishwakarma said Rathwa’s unwavering devotion to public service, efforts for the upliftment of the tribal community and his invaluable contribution to public welfare will always be remembered.
