“With her passing away, our country has lost a great humantarian and activist who was very close to the common man,” Dikshit said. L K Advani, Prakash Karat and other leaders also paid their respects.

A diehard Gandhian, Deshpande had been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan in 2006. Born on October 17, 1929 in Nagpur, she joined Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan Movement in 1952 and undertook padyatras across the country with him. She had also written several books, prominent among them being Vinobake Sath, Kranti Ki Rah Par, Chingling, Seemant and Vinoba.

She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha for a two year stint in 1997 and again in 2004. As a parliamentarian, she raised issues of national concern and was a member of various standing committees, including those of Information and Broadcasting, Rural Development and Empowerment of Women. Deshpande was confered Russia’s Order of Friendship Russia and Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Puraskar, besides three honorary doctorates from Universites of Patiala and Amaravati and Kashi Vidyapeeth. Having taken a vow of celibacy, Deshpande used to live with some of her co-workers.