Thousands of mourners joined the bereaved family of late Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde in bidding an emotional last farewell to the departed soul at a State funeral in his hometown of Parli-Vaijnath in Beed district of Maharashtra on Wednesday.
Amid heart-rending scenes, Munde supporters and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray demanded a CBI enquiry into the BJP leader’s death. “Only a CBI enquiry would bring out the true cause of Munde’s death and clear all the doubts in the minds of the people, especially his supporters,” Uddhav said.
“One cannot rule out a conspiracy. That’s why the Government should not lose any time in ordering a CBI enquiry into the incident,” RPI(A) president Ramdas Athavale said.
Slogans like “Parat ya, parat ya, Munde saheb Parat ya (Munde sir, please return) and “Amar Rahe, Amar Rahe Munde saheb Amar Rahe (May Munde sir remain immortal)” rent the air as late Munde’s daughter Pankaja lit the funeral pyre of her father on the premises of Vaijnath co-operative sugar factory at Parli around 1.45 pm.
A day after Munde died of “shock and haemorrhage” following injuries to his neck and liver that he suffered in a road accident in New Delhi, his body was first flown to Mumbai, from where it was taken to his hometown of Parli in a helicopter on Wednesday morning.
Huge number of people from different parts of the State had gathered at the cremation ground. The State BJP had booked a train to ferry party workers from Mumbai to latur, a town near Parli, for the cremation of Munde.
The supporters began to descend on the cremation venue right from 7 am onwards. They were getting restive, as they waited for the body to arrive from Mumbai, where it had been kept at Munde’s Worli residence in South-Central Mumbai and later moved to theState BJP headquarters at Nariman Point in south Mumbai for public darshan on Tuesday night.
As Munde’s mortal remains finally arrived at the cremation venue at 12.03 pm, the supporters rushed towards the vehicle carrying the glass coffin to have a last glimpse of the BJP leader. As a result, there was a commotion, leading to a near stampede. There was mild lathi-charge to disperse the crowd. At one stage, late Munde’s daughter pleaded to the BJP workers to stay calm.
There was palpable outrage among the BJP workers and people of Parli over the circumstances leading to the fatal road accident.The mourners were heard shouting slogans demanding a CBI enquiry into the cause of road accident involving Munde’s untimely death.
Apart from several senior BJP leaders, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan, several of his Cabinet colleagues, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and leaders of several other political parties, including RPI(A) president Ramdas Athavale, were present during the cremation.