Nashik, Sep 17 (IANS): Senior Congress tribal leader and former union minister Manikrao Thakre passed away due to old-age related illness at a hospital here on Saturday, a party leader said.

Gavit - who served as MoS for Home and later Social Justice under former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh - was 87 and is survived by his son Bharat and his daughter, ex-MLA Nirmala.

Gavit was elected a record nine times from the tribal dominated Nandurbar district from 1980 till 2009, but he lost the elections under the Bharatiya Janata Party wave of 2014.

In 2019, his son Bharat joined the BJP after he was denied a ticket by the Congress while two-time MLA from Igatpuri (Nashik) Nirmala joined the Shiv Sena and was defeated.

Congress state President Nana Patole expressed grief over the his demise and said the state has lost a prominent and far-sighted 'people-oriented leader' who had a long experience in the social and political arena.