Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief and Lok Sabha MP for Pune, Girish Bapat, handed away on March 29 after a protracted sickness, on the age of 72.
He was admitted to the town’s Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital earlier immediately and placed on life assist after his well being deteriorated, however succumbed quickly after.
Mr. Bapat’s demise is the third main setback for the BJP in Pune district in lower than 4 months; the social gathering misplaced two influential leaders, then Kasba Peth MLA Mukta Tilak and its sitting Chinchwad MLA Laxman Jagtap in December 2022 and January this 12 months, respectively.
Mr. Bapat, a former Maharashtra Cabinet Minister, made his political mark as a corporator within the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in 1983.
Known as an astute chief who cultivated private friendships throughout the political spectrum, Mr. Bapat held the difficult Kasba Peth Assembly phase for 5 consecutive phrases for the BJP between 1995 and 2019.
In reality, such was Mr. Bapat’s maintain over the Kasba Peth phase that his absence within the marketing campaign throughout the by-poll final month severely harm the BJP’s probabilities and resulted within the Congress (and MVA’s) candidate Ravindra Dhangekar wresting the seat from the BJP after practically 30 years.
Mr. Bapat was a uncommon one who was well-loved and revered by politicians not simply in his personal social gathering however the opposition as nicely, in addition to being regarded affectionately by folks from a large social spectrum.
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP excessive command had dropped its sitting MP Anil Shirole in favour of Mr. Bapat. The latter then defeated his Congress rival Mohan Joshi by a colossal margin of practically 3.30 lakh votes.
Prior to contesting for the Pune MP seat, Mr. Bapat had by the way vacated the Kasba Peth for his late colleague, Mukta Tilak, who pre-deceased him three months in the past.
Tributes and condolences poured throughout the political spectrum, with Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde stating that in Mr. Bapat’s passing, not simply Pune however Maharashtra had misplaced a tall chief.
“Girish Bapat continued to energise his party even while struggling with terminal illness. Whenever I used to meet him, I was amazed at his knowledge on a vast number of subjects and not just politics. As an MLA, MP and Minister in the State Cabinet, he always took the initiative to solve problems of common people. As Guardian Minister, he had taken firm steps for the development of Pune. He always had excellent relations with not just people within his party but with those from other parties as well. The State has lost a friendly and kind-hearted leader,” Mr. Shinde stated.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, whereas remarking that Mr. Bapat’s passing as extraordinarily unhappy information, stated he was an completely devoted chief whose dying “leaves a void that cannot be filled”.
Paying fulsome tributes to Mr. Bapat, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar, who’s present Leader of the Opposition within the State Assembly, stated that the departed BJP chief all the time transcended the narrow-minded confines of caste, creed and regionality in his political profession.
While senior NCP chief from Pune, Ankush Kakade, burst into tears recalling cases of their private friendship, one other senior NCP chief Eknath Khadse (previously with the BJP), recalled Mr. Bapat’s political ability in establishing his social gathering institution in locations the place the BJP had no affect by any means.
Likewise, NCP State president Jayant Patil famous that Mr. Bapat had the uncanny potential to forge friendships with folks regardless of political variations.
Source: www.thehindu.com