Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde, who died following a road accident, was cremated with state honours in Parali-Vaijnath, Beed district on Wednesday.
Munde's eldest daughter Pankaja performed the last rites and lit his pyre, a sign indicating that she will be taking over the political mantle from her father, who was a mass leader in Maharashtra.
Munde died of multiple injuries and cardiac arrest that he suffered after the road mishap in Delhi. The minister was on his way to catch a flight to Mumbai as he was scheduled to attend a victory rally at the Totala Ground in Beed on Tuesday. Soon after the accident, Munde was admitted to AIIMS hospital and though doctors tried to revive him, he passed away.
Munde's body was moved to his Worli residence in Mumbai on Tuesday and was later shifted to BJP's state headquarters at Nariman Point, where several party workers paid their last respects to the minister. His mortal remains were shifted to his native village in Beed on Wednesday.
Around 30,000 people had gathered at the village where his last rites had to take place. Ahead of the funeral, there was chaos after the minister's supporters and activists tried to cross barricades to pay their homage. Clashes erupted between the police and Munde's supporters as they pelted stones at the cops. Munde's daughter Pankaja appealed to the crowd to maintain calm and peace.
Parli : Pankaja Munde appeals to the crowd to maintain calm pic.twitter.com/dbdCJCrkEn
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Union minister Prakash Javadekar, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, MNS leader Raj Thackeray, BJP general secretary Rajeev Pratap Rudy, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and RPI's Ramdas Athavale were among other political leaders who attended Munde's funeral.
Lok Sabha Session Adjourned After Paying Respect to Munde
Earlier in the day, the first session of the 16th Lok Sabha began on a sombre note. Kamal Nath, who was sworn-in as the Protem Speaker by President Pranab Mukherjee in the morning, condoled the death of Munde as the national anthem was played out. The House observed two-minutes silence as a mark of respect to Munde. Secretary General P Sreedharan tabled the list of newly-elected Lok Sabha members, who will be sworn in on Thursday, 5 June.
Following the proceedings of the House, Kamal Nath adjourned the House till 11 am on 5 June.
