Girish Bapat leaves a legacy of friendship across party lines

RSS-BJP veteran Girish Bapat - who has left his indelible imprint in Maharashtra politics with relationships cutting across party lines - passed away in Pune on Wednesday after prolonged illness.

Bapat was the BJP MP from Pune.

Several top politicians rushed to Pune to pay tributes to Bapat, many spoke about him in choked voices while some broke down.

He was 72.

Read | Pune MP Girish Bapat's demise a big loss for BJP, say party leaders

Bapat, a master of Pune politics, was a guru and mentor to several current state-level BJP leaders who now call the shots in Maharashtra.

Before being elected as an MP in 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Pune, Bapat used to represent the prestigious Kasba Peth seat of Pune city - which he won a record five times - 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014.

Bapat was a minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-Shiv Sena government between 2014-19 and had held the crucial portfolio of Parliamentary Affairs besides other ministries like Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, and Food and Drugs Administration.

Prior to entering law-making bodies, Bapat had been a big player in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). He was first elected in PMC in a bye-election in 1983 and won three subsequent terms - and also headed the Standing Committee.

Bapat started off as a trade union leader and was even jailed during the Emergency.

Bapat, who was ailing for the last one-and-a-half years, passed away at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Research Centre, where he was admitted for multi-organ failure.

Bapat was last seen in public when he stepped out in a wheelchair to address a public rally for the BJP candidate Hemant Rasane in the Kasba Peth assembly bypolls. However, the BJP lost its bastion, which it held for three decades, to the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s nominee Ravindra Dhangekar. “Bapat saheb was committed to the cause and development of Pune,” the Congressman said.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Fadnavis rushed to pay tribute to Bapat while several official government engagements and functions were cancelled.

“Girish Bapat ji played a key role in building and strengthening the BJP in Maharashtra. He was an approachable leader who raised issues of public welfare. He also made a mark as an effective minister and later as Pune's MP. His good work will keep motivating several people (sic),” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.

“Girish Bapat has always taken an inclusive stance in his political journey,” said NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

“Starting as a trade union leader, Bapat rose the ranks in politics on the strength of hard work and mass contact. Bapat had friends across the political spectrum. In his demise the State has lost a popular leader and an experienced parliamentarian,” said Governor Ramesh Bais.

“He started his career as a grassroots-level worker to become an ideal public representative," Shinde said. “Girish Bhau was an excellent Parliamentarian and a good speaker. As Corporator, Standing Committee Chairman, MLA, MP and minister, he has shown an example of how to work efficiently,” he said.