Mumbai: The union rural development minister Gopinath Munde died, apparently of shock and cardiac arrest suffered in an early morning road accident on June 3, 2014, in New Delhi. Munde, 64, was on his way to the airport when his car was hit by another vehicle on the Prithviraj Road-Tughlaq Road roundabout in the heart of the national capital. He had been inducted into the Union Cabinet for the first time after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Pankaja, his daughter and the minister for women and child welfare in the cabinet of Devendra Fadnavis cabinet in Maharashtra, had demanded a CBI probe into her father’s death.
However, within a week, she withdrew her demand and later remained silent on the issue. Eknath Khadse, former minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while speaking to The Free Press Journal in December 2017, had claimed Munde was not ready to become a union minister. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi had insisted upon Munde joining his cabinet. Munde had wanted to focus on the Maharashtra assembly polls scheduled to be held in September 2014. He had his eyes on the post of chief minister,” Khadse had claimed.
“Modi had offered Munde the portfolio of rural development, a very powerful ministry. The PM believed this ministry could change the face of the nation and only Munde could do justice to the post. Modi had entrusted Nitin Gadkari with the task of persuading Munde to take up the portfolio who agreed on the condition that he would lead the state. Unfortunately, he was not destined to do so,” Khadse had recalled.
A blow-by-blow account of the incidents leading to Munde’s demise: 6 am: Gopinath Munde leaves his residence heading towards Indira Gandhi international airport in his Maruti SX4 6.20 am: A speeding Indica jumps a traffic signal and dashes into Munde’s car on the side where he is seated in the back seat. 6.30 am: Munde is taken to the emergency department of the Jaiprakash Narain Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS, by his personal assistant and driver.
No spontaneous breathing, no blood pressure, no pulse, no cardiac activity is detected. Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is given to Munde for the next 50 minutes 6.35 am: Munde’s security personnel hands over Tata Indica’s driver to Delhi Police. 7.20 am: AIIMS declares Munde dead.
Minister reacts to alleged murder news
Reacting to an alleged murder of Gopinath Munde claimed by a self proclaimed former employee of Electronic Corporation of India (ECU) which assembled the electronic circuit of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), leader of the Opposition in legislative council, Dhananjay Munde, said, “It is shocking”. Munde demanded a probe by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) “since the case is related to death of a senior political leader and is also related to election process of one of the biggest sovereign countries.”
Meanwhile, Pankaja, daughter of late Gopinath Munde did not respond to the calls and messages. The phone number of her personal assistant was switched off and the number at ‘Royal Stone’ her official residence did not respond to the calls made by this reporter.
