Mumbai, Jan 3 (PTI) Laxman Jagtap, a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Maharashtra, died at the age of 59 on Tuesday after a prolonged illness.
Jagtap, the legislator from Chinchwad in Pune district, was undergoing treatment for cancer, his family said. He died at a private hospital here.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited his residence and paid tributes before the last rites which were conducted with state honours.
The BJP has lost two MLAs in the state within a fortnight.
Mukta Tilak, MLA from Kasba seat in Pune city, died on December 22.
Jagtap was a three-time MLA from Chinchwad. Despite being seriously ill, he had travelled from Pune to Mumbai to cast vote during the Rajya Sabha and Maharashtra Legislative Council elections in June last year.
CM Shinde said in his condolence message that Jagtap constantly worked for the development of his constituency.
“His death is mind-numbing,” Shinde said.
Senior BJP leader Fadnavis also expressed condolences and recalled how Jagtap came to the state legislature wearing a PPE kit to vote during the Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council polls last year.
Jagtap and Tilak had received praise for casting votes despite failing health. The BJP snatched a seat each from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi in both the polls.
“The party has suffered a great loss with Jagtap’s demise. As a mayor and MLA, he contributed a lot to the process of development. The news of Laxmanbhau Jagtap’s death is very sad and heart-wrenching. I pay my humble respects to him,” Fadnavis said.
Maharashtra cabinet minister Chandrakant Patil, who is also the guardian minister of Pune, said this is the second unfortunate news for the party in 15 days.
“After Tilak’s death, this is the second shock for all BJP workers. We all live like a family and the passing away of Jagtap is like losing a family member,” he said.
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Ajit Pawar also expressed grief over Jagtap’s death and said as a public representative he worked passionately to address people’s issues.
Jagtap’s work in political and social life will always be remembered and he contributed a lot to the development of Pimpri-Chinchwad area, said Pawar. PTI PR SPK NR GK KRK KRK
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