Veteran politician Vinayak Mete died in a road accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in the wee hours of Sunday.
Mete was on way to Mumbai to attend a meeting to discuss issues of the Maratha community, when the accident took place.
He was rushed to the MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai, where he was pronounced dead.
The founder of Shiv Sangram, he was popular across Maharashtra.
Mete had been in the forefront of the peaceful agitation to demand the reservation of the Maratha community.
He also headed the committee that was overseeing the project to build a grand memorial in honour of legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea.
Politicians, cutting across party lines, condoled his death.
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