By Mayank Jain:
In just a week after appointing the new cabinet, Narendra Modi government has suffered a big loss early morning today. The Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister Mr. Gopinath Pandurang Munde died near Moti Bagh in Delhi. He was on his way to the Indira Gandhi Airport when an Indica hit his SX4 and he suffered serious injuries. He was rushed to the AIIMS trauma centre shortly but he could not be resuscitated by CPR.
Munde had an illustrious political career and he gradually rose to the top ranks of the Bhartiya Janata Party. He was a Minister of Legislative Assembly starting 1980 for five terms and he became the leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly during 1992-1995. From 1995, he became the deputy CM of Maharashtra till 1999. Munde served as the deputy leader of BJP in the 2009 Lok Sabha. Munde’s wife Pradnya Munde is the sister of late Pramod Mahajan and he is survived by his three daughters and wife.
Munde was appointed into Narendra Modi’s Cabinet for the 2014 Lok Sabha as the minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. He contested elections from the Beed constituency where he defeated NCP’s Suresh Raj by a margin of 1.4 lakh votes.
His funeral will be held tomorrow. The government has decided that the National Flag will be flown half-mast today in Delhi, other capitals of states and Union Territories.
Munde died at the age of 64 and he was declared dead at 7.20 AM this morning. The driver of the Indica car that hit his car has been taken into custody, as per the reports.
To know more about this story and what I think, follow me on Twitter at @mayank1029