Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde dies in car smash-up

 

Munde, 64, apparently died due to shock and a cardiac arrest suffered immediately after the accident. The official Maruti SX4 car he was travelling in was hit by a speeding Indica at the Prithviraj Road-Tughlak Road Junction close to Safdarjung airport in the heart of New Delhi. He was on his way to Mumbai to attend a victory rally at Beed (Maharashtra), his parliamentary constituency, when death struck.

 

Brother-in-law of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, Munde is survived by his wife and three daughters, one of whom is an MLA from Parli in Maharashtra’s Beed district.

 

President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and high dignitaries across the political spectrum mourned Munde’s death. A state funeral will be accorded to him in Beed on Wednesday, that is likely to be attended by the Prime Minister, several Cabinet ministers and other leaders. The national flag flew at half-mast in New Delhi and all state capitals on Tuesday, and all official engagements were cancelled. The flag will also fly at half-mast on Wednesday at the place the cremation is held.

 

Munde’s mortal remains were brought from the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he was declared dead at 7.20 am, to the BJP’s Ashoka Road headquarters at around noon, where several party and national leaders, including Mr Modi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, paid tribute.

 

Munde’s family members, including his wife, two daughters and son-in-law, rushed to Delhi on hearing the news. Mr Gandhi, incidentally, became the first prominent member of his family to pay a visit to the BJP headquarters.

 

Mr Modi also condoled his Cabinet colleague’s sudden death on social media. “Extremely saddened & shocked by the demise of my friend & colleague Gopinath Mundeji. His demise is a major loss for the Nation & the Govt”, he wrote on Twitter.