Pune grieves the death of Union Minister Gopinath Munde

PUNE: At an emotional condolence meeting, city BJP office bearers paid rich tributes to their leader and Union Minister Gopinath Munde, who had spent many years here as a college student, taking part in various agitations of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad ( ABVP).

Munde, who was initiated in politics by the late BJP stalwart Pramod Mahajan in Marathwada region, later spent his formative years as a student in Pune where he also formed an association with newly-elected Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Party leaders including the BJP MP Anil Shirole, recalled Munde's drive as an ABVP activist, his participation in the anti-emergency agitation and subsequent graduation as a formidable mass BJP leader in Maharashtra.

Cutting across party lines NCP MP Supriya Sule, against whom Munde had vigorously campaigned in Baramati constituency, in support of the saffron alliance OBC candidate Mahadeo Jankar in the last election, said despite political differences she had very good relations with him on personal and family level.