BJP MP Girish Bapat passes away after prolonged illness

5-time MLA from Kasba Peth constituency in Pune, he was also elected to Lok Sabha in 2019

Notably, this comes five months after Samant first announced the paper in November.

That the time, he had announced that it would be out in a month.

The Shinde government had come under pressure from the Opposition after Vedanta Foxconn and the Tata Airbus project opted to shift to Gujarat.

After all this time, Samant has reportedly told the media that the “report is being printed”.

Notably, the paper could have been tabled at either of the two sessions of the state legislature, which occurred in the interim.

Samant attributed the delay to the fact that the state had sought responses from the firms involved. He had also said a three-member committee headed by a retired judge would be set up to look into why big-ticket projects had left Maharashtra. The committee was to have submitted its report in 60 days.

Pune (PTI): BJP Lok Sabha member from Pune and former state minister Girish Bapat passed away at a hospital here on Wednesday after a prolonged illness.

The 72-year-old BJP leader, ailing for the last one-and-a-half years, was admitted to the ICU of Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in critical condition and was on life support.

“Today is a sad day.

Senior BJP leader and MP Girish Bapat left us today. For the last one and half years, he was undergoing treatment,” said Jagdish Mulik, BJP city unit president said on Wednesday afternoon, adding that Bapat’s last rites would be performed at Vaikunth crematorium in the evening.

Bapat had served as the MLA from Kasba Peth constituency in Pune five times. He was elected to Lok Sabha in 2019.

Bapat’s last public appearance was on February 26 when he cast vote for the Kasba Peth Assembly bypoll sitting in a wheelchair with his nasal cannula on.

The Opposition then accused the BJP of playing with Bapat’s health.

Death

Condoling Bapat’s death, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was a humble and hardworking leader who served society diligently and worked extensively for the development of Maharashtra and was passionate about the growth of Pune.

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