Congress stalwart, ex-Union minister dies, at 91

In March 1979, rumours that Jayaprakash Narayan was dead quickly spread across India.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

In Parliament, then Prime Minister Morarji Desai even expressed his condolences, triggering a wave of mourning in many state assemblies.But the then Speaker of the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan, Shivraj Vishwanath Patil, refused to follow the information that was based on an official's report.

He temporarily adjourned the House and called the Jaslok Hospital doctors who were treating Narayan. They confirmed that the patient remained critically ill but had not died. Under Patil’s leadership, Vidhan Bhavan was the only assembly to read out a resolution wishing a long life for Narayan, who died in Patna after seven months.

Shivraj Patil, 91, died on Friday at his residence in Latur, Maharashtra.

Twelve years after his Vidhan Bhavan stint, Patil became the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Some of his decisions fundamentally changed the way Parliament worked and remained relevant amid changing times. Due to the paucity of time, only five ministry-wise budgets or demand for grants were discussed during the budget session at the time. The remaining demand for grants were guillotined or approved without debates.