Gopinath Munde dies in road accident-Setback for Modi govt

Union Rural Development Minister Mr Gopinath Munde died due to trauma related Heart attack after his vehicle was involved in a collision with an Indica Car at Moti Bagh in Delhi at around 6: 20 in the morning. Nobody was injured in the accident but Mr Munde a diabetic slowly lost pulse and when rushed to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi had to be resuscitated. He was pronounced dead at around 7 50 AM . Mr Munde was scheduled to address a victory rally in his home town Beed in Maharashtra, after the BJPs victory in the National Elections.

It has come as a shock to Mr Narendra Modi’s ministry and his body will be placed in the BJP party office at Ashoka Road and his funeral will take place tomorrow in his hometown Beed, Maharashtra. Describing the premature demise of Mr Munde as a loss to the nation and to the party ,Mr Modi has declared a day of mourning in the State.

Mr Munde was a deputy Chief Minister in Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999 and elected twice to India's lower house of Parliament, in 2009 and 2014. He had served as deputy leader of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Parliament. Mr Munde is also the brother-in-law of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.

In what can be termed as a major setback to the Modi government which is hardly 10 days into its existence will decide who will replace Mr Munde after the funeral session as the position of the Rural Development Ministry is a vital one which has the task of poverty alleviation in the country. Condolences have been pouring in and TDP chief and Seemandhra CM designate Mr Chandrababu Naidu has also expressed his condolences on the death of Mr Gopinath Munde.