Former Union Minister and ex—BCCI president NKP Salve died early Sunday morning at a private hospital in Delhi due to age—related problems, family sources said.
He was 90.
The veteran Congress leader is survived by his son Harish Salve, an eminent advocate, and daughter Arundhati. His wife had died a few years ago.
He was admitted to the hospital a few days ago, where he passed away, the sources said, adding the body will be taken to Nagpur and the burial will take place on Monday.
Born in Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, Salve was associated with cricket administration for several years and had brought the cricket World Cup to the Indian sub—continent in 1987, the first time it was organised outside England.
The Challenger Trophy was named after him.
Salve, a politician, intellectual and a cricket administrator rolled into one, was a strong votary of separate state of Vidarbha to be carved out of Maharashtra. He and another Congress veteran, Vasant Sathe, had even floated a group to press the demand.
As a Congressman, he first represented Betul Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, and later became a Rajya Sabha member. He served in successive Union Cabinets of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao.
Salve was also the President of Vidarbha Cricket Association, before taking over the reins of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), succeeding Barrister S K Wankhede.
Leaders across political spectrum expressed grief over demise of the veteran Congress leader. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said Salve’s “extensive political life and the work done by him will always remain inspirational.”
BCCI President N. Srinivasan condoled the death of Salve, saying that his contribution to Indian cricket would never be forgotten.
“The passing away of Mr. N.K.P. Salve has come as a shock to us. His contribution to Indian cricket, as President of the BCCI, can never be forgotten. It was during his tenure that we won the World Cup for the first time, in 1983,” Srinivasan said.
“It was also due to his initiative that the World Cup was co—hosted by India and Pakistan in 1987. Thus, he was responsible for the World Cup becoming the ‘global’ event that it is today,” he said.
AICC general secretary Vilas Muttemwar remembered Salve as an “honest politician and a thorough gentleman”.
“Salve was a cultured person and was well versed in English, Hindi, Marathi and Urdu. He had great aesthetic sense and was a nature—lover,” he said.
“In his (Salve’s) death, the movement for separate Vidarbha state has suffered a huge setback. His contribution to the Vidarbha movement was great, and region has lost a great leader of his stature,” BJP president Nitin Gadkari said in his condolence message.
Salve was a Chartered Accountant by profession and film actor Dilip Kumar was one of his clients. His son Harish Salve is an eminent lawyer, while daughter Arundhati runs a school in Nagpur.
Keywords: N.K.P. Salve
N.K.P. Salve was a true Statesman! An ardent follower the Unique Shri
Lal bahadur Shastri, Mr. Salve proved to his youngsters that perseverance is the key to any success! He merits the hihgest decoration of the Nation! Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved
family> May his sould rest in peace.
Respectful farewell to N.K.P. Salve.
NKP Salve is dead. Long live NKP Salve! A True Indian to the core. Every Asian cricket fan today owes a debt of gratitude to this greatest of sport administrators.
NKP Salve was a multi faceted personality. As a core congressman he was an honest politician and stood for a right cause at the right time. He had a far sighted vision to develop and accomplished the set goals with absolute dedication and responsibility. His association with cricket the most popular game in the country and taking it globally can never be forgotten and was also instrumental in transforming the Indian cricket board to what it is today a powerful body. His intellectual prowess, political acumen, linguistic abilities and soft like approach to people earned him a respectable place in the society. A gentleman to the core and a source to inspiration to everybody around with him. It is hard to digest that he is no more now. The country has lost a great personality. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Record of his contribution to cricket speaks of his eminence. Seems to
be multifaceted personality,an eminent accountant,astute politician and
an excellent sports administrator. Heartfelt condolences to Harish and
Arundhati. May his soul rest in peace
Rest In Peace Mr. Salve... U were one of the best administrators... U really put Indian Cricket as a dominant force in world cricket politics and it was your initiative dat was later carried out by Mr Jaghmohan Dalmiya which made India a superpower of World cricket challenging the traditional superpowers like England and Australia...
God Rest his soul, a brilliant man died on Ram Navami, he will be missed and I hope those in BCCI realise this was the person they should have used as a Benchmark in honesty and love of the game.
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