Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil
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Abhijeet.Patil, August 5, 2026: The Times of India
Kolhapur: Dr Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil’s network of universities and colleges reshaped private higher education in India.
Known as “Dada”, DY Patil leaves behind one of India’s largest private education networks comprising 182 institutions, three deemed universities and five state private universities with more than 1.5 lakh students and around 26,000 employees.
Condolences poured in from across the political spectrum, led by PM Modi, CM Fadnavis, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress netas Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
Born in 1935, Patil entered public life at 19 as the chairman of Shri Ram Multipurpose Cooperative Society in Kasba Bawda.
He later became the youngest councillor of the then Kolhapur Municipal Council and went on to serve two terms as a Congress MLA. A Congress loyalist, he remained closely associated with the Gandhi family and was among the few legislators who backed VV Giri in the 1969 presidential election. He also served as the governor of Tripura, Bihar and Bengal — the latter two briefly. Patil later stepped away from active politics to pursue his vision of expanding higher education. Taking advantage of Maharashtra’s 1983 policy opening professional education to private participation, he built a network of institutions spanning medicine, engineering, pharmacy and other disciplines that widened access to professional education for thousands of students.
The Padma Shri awardee is survived by sons Satej, Sanjay, Vijay and Ajinkya Patil, and daughters Bhageshree, Supriya, Rajashree, Nandita Palshetkar and Pooja Patil. His funeral will be held Wednesday evening in Kolhapur with state honours.