RIP Munde Saheb

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Early morning whatsapp messages were about Gopinath Munde being involved in an accident and is critical. Very soon Twitter was flooded with his passing away. He was just alone, unescorted. He asked for water from the driver. The car did not look so badly damaged. He was declared dead by the hospital after attempts to revive him failed. In the mean time, friends were talking about his sudden death. Why couldn't someone revive him? Was his security not equipped with any first aid skills? Came to know later that there was no security with him. Friends saying acupuncture could have helped him in case of a heart attack. Rural Development minister in the Modi cabinet, he had worked at  grass root level in Maharashtra and in other parts of India.

I remembered him during the death of his brother in law Promod Mahajan, who was shot dead by his own brother. Gopinath Munde had handled the family and really supported them. Then at Balasaheb's funeral, I saw him sitting along with the BJP top brass. All looked a bit shaken there.

He was going to take a flight to go to Beed, the constituency from which he won the elections. This was his first celebration in the home constituency. When we were returning from Goa, the Tourism minister for our new cabinet Mr. Shripad Naik was coming back to Goa after his being sworn in. There was a huge BJP and media mela outside the airport for his welcome. He was the first minister in the central cabinet from Goa. The welcome was with drums and flowers. Party workers carried him. He greeted them and then sat in his car. He and the workers looked happy.  Am sure a bigger welcome awaited Gopinath Munde in Beed. I shudder to imagine the body reaching there for the funeral. Life is so unpredictable.

I switched on the television only in the evening. The images were heart wrenching.The child said " Momma, He was there for Satya Sai Baba's function". All memories started flooding back. On 27th April 2014, we attend a musical evening which was a Tribute to the Legend of Pure Love. At NSCI  in the new sports stadium, this event was celebrated by prayers by children from Bal Vikas and various famous musicians. There were, I think, three Padma Shri awardee singers on stage, sitting together with around six other singers. Aishwarya Rai was there as an alumni of Balvikas. She shared a lot of her experiences of being a Balvikas student and meeting Baba. She attributed her grounding and ability to handle failure and success to Bal Vikas. She took the effort to get photographed with all the Bal Vikas students.

Gopinath Munde was a part of this august gathering along with his wife. There were bankers, politicians,Doctors, people from the business world and more. He was looking jovial and fit. The camera kept showing him on the big screen, after it had finished showing Aishwarya Rai. They were felicitating a senior follower and volunteer Shri Chandrakant Shah. Anil Chavan was also there with his wife. While felicitating Chandraknt Bhai, Munde ji actually stepped back and allowed Chavan to be in the forefront. He made Ashok Chavan, the man involved in Adarsh scam, do the honouring . Sorry, but that's the only way I know of Ashok Chavan. Munde was of a happy disposition and looked very comfortable off stage and with no speeches. This must be in the middle of all the hectic election campaigning which he managed.

Anup Jalota, Pankaj Udhaas, Kavita Krishnamurty, Richa Sharma, Sumeet Tappo, Padmaja Joglekar, Gaurav Chopra and I forget all the other wonderful singers were singing. Later the crowd started thinning. Sunday evening , am sure people wanted to head out for dinner or get to bed for an early monday start. A singer called Padmaja Joglekar started singing " Paayo ji maine Ram ratan dhan paayo". As soon as she started singing, Gopinath ji got up to make an exit. She said over the mike, "Munde Saheb, Thaamba zaara ,ek gaana tari aaikoon  zaa". It means, Please wait and listen to one song at least . He turned back and went back on his seat. The crowd cheered and smiled. A busy man with all his campaign commitments, sat back without any embarrassment or show. This singer Padmaja Joglekar was at the airport when we were on our way to Goa. We thought about how she made Gopinath Munde turn back.

Can we ask Padmaja Joglekar to request him to come back one more time?


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