TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
CANACONA: While the untimely death of Union Minister for Rural Development Gopinath Munde following a road mishap in Delhi early Tuesday has stunned the nation, the leader will be remembered dearly by residents in a remote part of the State.
Residents of Gaondongrim-Canacona still have fond memories of Gopinath Munde’s visit to the village in 2011.
Residents of Gaondongrim recalled that the soft-spoken BJP leader, who was then in-charge of the Goa Desk, had visited the family of Mangesh Gaonkar (24) who was killed during the UTAA unrest at Balli on May 25, 2011.
Munde had paid an unexpected visit to the Gaonkar family at Ziltawadi-Gaondongrim on the second day after the Balli incident and he had been accompanied by then Maharashtra SC/ST Cell chief Ramdas Athavle and MLA Ramesh Tawadkar, who had led the UTTA agitation, along with other leaders.
“Munde’s words of consolation had touched the hearts of the aged parents and other siblings of Mangesh Gaonkar, as the family members were yet to accept the loss of Mangesh barely a day earlier in the UTAA riots,” said Canacona BJP Block Vice President Sanjay Komarprant, while recalling Munde’s concern to the family.
According to Komarpant, Munde, while serving as the Goa Desk in-charge, had also addressed a BJP public meeting in Poinguinim during the previous assembly elections.
“It was here that Munde informed the electorate that BJP would bring more and more schemes, besides reassuring women and children not to worry about their well being. Munde will be remembered for a long time not only within the BJP, but especially by families in the remote residential area of Ziltawadi-Gaondongrim,” said Komarpant.
