Advani, others to felicitate Gopinath Munde on 61st birthday

MUMBAI - A galaxy of leaders led by former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani will felicitate senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde on his 61st birthday here Sunday.

Besides Advani, state party chief Sudhir Mungantiwar, BJP Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra assembly Eknath Khadse, BJP Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra legislative council Pandurang Phundkar will be present.

“The felicitation will be organised by ‘Gopinath Munde Gaurav Samiti’ at the Shanmukhanand Hall,” city BJP chief Raj Purohit said here Friday.

Other prominent personalities expected to attend the function include union Minister for Heavy Industries Vilasrao Deshmukh, state Tourism Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and former central minister Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, he said.

Born in a poor farmer’s family in Nathra village of Beed district in the backward Marathwada region of Maharashtra, Munde’s parents Pandurang and Limbabai fought all odds to ensure a decent education for him.

It was during his college days that he was drawn to active politics and even learnt the political ropes by ensuring the victory of his group members in local elections.

He was made the state’s leader of opposition from 1991-1995. Later, he was rewarded with the plum post of deputy chief minister when the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party ruled the state from 1995-1999.

Barely a couple of years later, Munde moved onto the central BJP politics and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Beed in 2009.

Last year in December, Munde was made the deputy BJP party leader in the Lok Sabha, acting as the next-in-command to Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.