OBC face of BJP in Maharashtra and who had joined the Union Cabinet as rural
development minister, died today following a road accident. This family has
been gravely troubled over the last few years, earlier, brother-in-law Pramod Mahajan, another
top flight leader from Maharashtra was shot dead by
his own brother. Now with Munde dead, BJP will have lost the person who was expected to lead the party to victory in upcoming state elections in Maharashtra.
…
Gopinath Munde met with a road accident at 6:30 AM of June 3, 2014, while on
his way to the Delhi airport.
Munde’s convoy met with an accident in the Moti Bagh area of South Delhi, which
is near Delhi airport. Minister was on his way to Airport to leave to Mumbai. Munde’s car collided head on with another car and in the
accident, the BJP leader sustained multiple head, chest and spinal injuries.
Munde, a diabetic
patient, fell down from the car and asked to be taken to a hospital when his
security guard helped him. Munde has suspected to have suffered a cardiac
arrest and he was taken to the AIIMS Trauma Center where he passed away around
7.20 am.
The back-story [ref. wiki] is remarkable, it shows how Mrs Gandhi’s emergency regime brought many of today’s (non-Congress) mass leaders, most of them from working class backgrounds to the fore-front of Indian politics (Congress and to some extent the Left enjoyed the patronage of the elite and the educated class). Indian democracy was saved by defeating the all powerful Mrs Gandhi and her son Sanjay (ma-bete ki sarkar of a bygone age) under the leadership of Jay Prakash (JP) Narayan, who (in our opinion) remains the most respected Gandhian after Gandhi. And yes, many of these people, just like Narendra Modi, graduated in political education from RSS university.
From Lalu Yadav in Bihar to Chandrababa Naidu in Andhra, all leaders have one common point in their resume- incarceration during 1975-1977. The only group who backed Mrs Gandhi during those dark days were the Communist Party of India (Russian backed CPI, not the Chinese backed CPIM). And today CPI (and to some extent CPIM as well) has been pushed deep into the dustbin of history. Congress must also adapt and reform quickly, else it will follow the same path to oblivion.
……..
Munde was born in Parali, Maharashtra,
on 12 December 1949, to Pandurang Munde and Limbabai Munde in a middle class Vanjari
(caste) farmer’s family. Munde’s wife Pradnya is sister of Pramod
Mahajan (a Brahmin).
His family included Sister Saraswati Karad. She is followed by
elder brother Pandit Anna, who is actively involved in social and political
work. He was third child in the family. He was followed by younger brothers,
Manikrao and Venkatrao. Munde has three daughters — Pankaja, Pritam and Yashashri. Pankaja is an
MLA. Pritam is a doctor, and Yashashri is studying law.
Munde
attended a government primary school, in Nathra village, Beed district where
classes were conducted “under a tree”. He later attended the Zilla
Parishad high school in Parali. He obtained a BA in commerce from college in
Ambejogai. Subsequently, he studied at the ILS College in Pune.
Munde
got involved into politics when he met Pramod
Mahajan, a friend and colleague in the college. As a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad,
he took part in the agitation against the state of emergency imposed by the
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was incarcerated in the Nashik
central jail until the Emergency was lifted.
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, looking after half a dozen shakhas of the RSS, and subsequently, the
in-charge of its Pune
City Students’ Cell.
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.
He was Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha from 12 December
1991 to 14 March 1995. Munde was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of
Maharashtra when Manohar Joshi-led government took over the reins of
the state on 14 March 1995.
Munde
served as a member of the 15th Lok Sabha (2009–2014), representing the Beed constituency.
Munde won 2014 Loksabha election from Beed Constituency by margin of 2
lacs. He defeated NCP’s Suresh Dhas.Subsequently, he was appointed as Minister of Rural Development
by Prime minister Narendra Modi.
regards