Renowned socialist leader Baba Adhav, 95, passes away

Renowned socialist leader Baba Adhav, 95, passed away at a hospital in Pune on Monday (December 8, 2025) night. “He was kept in the ICU at Poona Hospital for the last 12 days. He was responding to the treatment earlier. But his kidneys failed. Today, at 8.25 p.m., he suffered a cardiac arrest. His mortal remains will be kept at Hamal Bhavan, the focal point of his tireless struggle, on Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. He will thereafter be cremated without any religious rituals at the electric crematorium at 5.30 p.m.,” Nitin Pawar, his close associate, told journalists.

Baba Adhav was a prominent progressive leader in the socialist movement in Maharashtra and had fought against the caste system and for the rights of labourers, head-loaders, waste-pickers, and street vendors. He had participated in the freedom movement, Samyukta Maharashtra movement, anti-Emergency protests, one village one water source movement (against caste system), and protests for the removal of Manu’s statue. He had also helmed a cycle rally from Pune to Delhi to seek social security for unorganised labourers.

Last year, the nonagenarian sat on a protest against electronic voting machines (EVMs). He had termed the use of EVMs in the elections a ‘fraud’.

He is survived by his wife Sheelatai Adhav, sons Aseem and Ambar, daughters-in-law and grandchildren.

Condolences poured in from all sections of society. “He was the backbone of the movement for the rights of head-loaders, rickshaw drivers, construction workers. He built a movement to give them justice. His fight against the social evils will be remembered. Maharashtra has always had a strong tradition of social reformers. A key personality from that tradition is lost today,” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. His followers called him the inheritor of Mahatma Phule’s ideology. Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray said: “He was the lighthouse for all those who fight for the protection of democracy.”