Obituary and political profile of Gopinath Pandurang Munde
Islamabad: Obituary and political profile of Gopinath Pandurang Munde. Munde was born in Maharashtra and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP. His sudden death in a car accident early morning of June 3 gave him only eight days to minister rural development and water and sanitation. His dead body was brought to Headquarters of BJP from hospital.
He was a veteran politician and was a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for five terms during 1980-1985 and 1990-2009. He was also the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly during 1992-1995. He has held the post of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 1995-1999. Munde was elected to Lok Sabha in 2009 and 2014. He left three daughters including one Pankaja who is also an MLA. Pratima is a doctor, and Yashashri is studying law.
Munde attended a government primary school, in Nathra village. He also attended the Zilla Parishad high school in Parali. He obtained a BA in commerce from Ambejogai college. Subsequently, he studied at the ILS College in Pune. He had a long and successful political career starting from his life in college. In 1971, he associated with the campaign of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh candidate in the Lok Sabha election in the Beed constituency. He attended the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Shiksha Varga (Training Camp) held in Pune that year. He soon became the Sambhajinagar Mandal Karyavah. Later, he was made a member of the executive committee of the city RSS. The Janata Party by this time had split, and the Bharatiya Janata Party, founded by the leaders the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh had come into existence. Munde was made President of the Maharashtra unit of the BJP’s youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
Munde died in a road accident at 6:20 AM on June 3, 2014, while on his way to the Delhi airport, when he was hit by an Indica car. The accident took place at Aurobindo Marg in South Delhi. He was brought to AIIMS by his personal assistant and driver, 10 minutes after the accident. After receiving CPR, he was declared dead at 7:20 AM. Reports state the driver that hit Munde’s car has been taken into custody.
