Girish Bapat was an Indian politician associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party. |
He represented Pune, Maharashtra as a Member of Parliament after winning in the 2019 general elections. |
Bapat was a five-time consecutively elected member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Kasba Peth constituency, spanning from 1995 to 2014. |
From 2014 to 2019, he held several significant portfolios in the Government of Maharashtra, including Cabinet Minister for Food & Civil Supplies and Food & Drug Administration, and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. |
His political journey began with his involvement in the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organization. |
During the Emergency period, he spent 19 months in Nashik central prison due to his association with the RSS. |
Over the course of five decades in politics, Bapat built friendships with politicians from various parties. In the 1980s and 90s, he was notably close to Congress member Shantilal Suratwala and NCP leader Ankush Kakade, collectively known as ‘GAS’ in political circles. |
In 1983, Bapat entered politics by successfully contesting and becoming a corporator in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). |
Prior to his political career, Bapat worked as a laborer at Tata Motors and was actively involved in the company's labor union. |
Before his passing, Bapat was being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune, where he succumbed to illness while on life support. His mortal remains were brought to his residence in Kasba Peth for his final rites. |