Since that day, the Dalit leader hasn’t been sighted in public even as his effigies were burnt on the streets across Kerala and outside the Raj Bhavan. The state tourism department even cancelled a programme to be attended by Gavai later in the month. No fresh invite from any government department has been sent to the Raj Bhavan. But the Governor remains unfazed over the protests raging outside, sources said.

Gavai, 80, is one of those rare politicians who is known to have done the right thing at the right time and, thus, reach the top with ease. Never elected an MLA, he was elected to the Lok Sabha only once — in 1998 from Amravati, Maharashtra. Yet, he not only got elected as a member of the legislative council for a record five terms, first time in 1964, but also went on to become the deputy chairperson of the council (1968-78), and then its chairperson (1978-84). He became the Governor of Bihar in 2006 and has been the Governor of Kerala since June, 2008.

Gavai, an agriculturist and a wrestler from Darapur, Amravati, was part of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s movement for social justice.

After Ambedkar’s death in 1956, he became the blue-eyed boy of Ambedkar’s close lieutenant Bhaurao alias Dadasaheb Gaikwad from Nashik. There was no unanimity among Dalit leaders over who would succeed Ambedkar and the Republican Party of India (RPI) established 11 months after Ambedkar’s death had a presidium to control it.

However, Gaikwad, with his mass appeal, had a considerable following among Dalits, who considered him the heir of Ambedkar. Gaikwad forged a pact with the then Congress Chief Minister Y B Chavan for gaining reservations for Dalits for Buddhist convert, and in the process compromising with a party Ambdekar had hated throughout his life.

Since then, Gavai too became a loyal Congress ally and remains so till date. His friendly nature and pragmatism ensured his entry in Maharashtra’s legislature — where some legislators would defy the whip to vote for a man who always chewed paan and also carried them in a box to offer to others.

He had differences with Sharad Pawar when the latter rebelled over the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi a decade ago. Gavai supported Sonia and is said to have refused to change his stance despite Pawar’s request — one of the reasons that made Pawar utilise Dalit leader Ramdas Athawale to rope in the support of Dalits for the NCP.

One of Gavai’s two sons, Bhushan, is a High Court judge, while the other, Rajendra, is a doctor. Rajendra took over the reins of the RPI (Gavai) after his father was appointed Governor of Bihar. Rajendra also unsuccessfully contested the recent Lok Sabha polls from Amravati on NCP ticket (under a Congress-NCP seat-sharing deal).

(With inputs from Shaju Philip)