Mumbai, June 3 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday paid a tribute to the veteran BJP leader and former union minister Gopinath Munde on his 11th death anniversary.

In his post on X, he said, “Humble tributes to the people’s leader, a statesman who dedicated his political life to the cause of social welfare, our guide and inspiration, Gopinathrao Ji Munde on his Smruti Din.”

“I pay tribute to a leader who strived for the rights and interests of the downtrodden and affected people, fought for the rights of Bahujan Samaj and Other Backward Classes, forced the then government to announce a farm loan waiver after organising statewide morcha, relentlessly fought to get relief to the Godavari flood-affected people from Marathwada, took out Sangharsh Yatra to flag off the criminalisation of politics in Maharashtra,” said the Chief Minister, uploading a video in his post.

The state unit chief and Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule also paid tribute to Munde.

The state BJP in its post on X said, “Tribute to a senior party leader, guide and an inspiration for many workers.”

Munde was credited with spreading the BJP’s wings across Maharashtra and changing its image of a party dominated by the upper class and traders.

It was Munde, who was picked up by the veteran BJP leader late Vasantrao Bhagwat, who travelled across Maharashtra in 1980s, that helped the party tremendously increase its presence in the state.

Munde carved his place in the party with his hard work, will and massive grassroots-level support.

Munde began his career in state politics by joining the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, and after joining the BJP, he travelled to villages and hamlets for the party’s consolidation.

Munde and his brother-in-law, Pramod Mahajan, were termed in the party circles as ‘Ram-Laxman’, who transformed the party’s image and made it a force to reckon with, especially during the Congress-dominated politics.

Munde started his electoral politics from Beed, where he became a zilla parishad member in 1978.

Later, he became a legislator from Renapur constituency, Deputy Chief Minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP government during 1995 and 1999, later MP from Beed constituency and Union Minister.

He hogged headlines for confronting former Chief Minister Sharad Pawar and targeting the Congress-led government on “criminalisation” of politics.

Munde launched an agitation against the now-infamous Enron power project and announced that, after coming to power, the project would be dumped into the Arabian Sea.

After the Shiv Sena-BJP came to power, the first phase of the project was repudiated in May, as announced by the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance during the 1995 Assembly elections. Later, the project was revived in 1996 after renegotiations with the Enron-led Dabhol Power Company.

Amid tensions between the BJP and the Shiv Sena, Munde and Mahajan were associated with the “bridge makers” due to their cordial relations with Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

Munde, who was Rural Development Minister in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led cabinet, died on June 3, 2014, in a car accident in New Delhi.

–IANS

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