Politician of different hue, Bapat was known as a ‘bridge builder’

Bapat leaves a legacy of friendships across party lines, which he cultivated in hisfive-decade career

The demise of Pune Member of Parliament (MP) Girish Bapat on Wednesday afternoon left everyone across the party lines grieving. For them, Bapat was a politician of a different hue who shunned political animosity and was clearly a ‘bridge-builder’, the two qualities fast becoming extinct these days.

Girish Bapat campaigning during his early days. (HT ARCHIVES)

In Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar’s words, Bapat was Pune’s “cultured face”.

“In Bapat’s death, a cultured face of politics is lost,” said Ajit Pawar, reflecting on the sentiments that most in political and social circles harbour.

In his five-decade long political career, Bapat cultivated personal friendships across the political spectrum. As a result, he was among the rare breed who was well loved and respected by politicians not just in his own party but the opposition as well, besides being regarded affectionately by people from a wide social spectrum.

“In his long political career of five decades, Bapat always took an all-inclusive stand. The news of his demise is extremely saddening,” said NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

The BJP leader from Pune Chandrakant Patil said, it’s like losing a “father figure”. “His friendship across the party lines and contacts with people and party workers were unparallel. He was dedicated to the party and its growth. His demise is a huge loss to the party,” Patil said.

In 1980s and 90s, friendship of Girish Bapat, NCP leader Ankush Kakade, and Congress member Shantilal Suratwala, had become a talking point in Pune. Among political circles, they were known as ‘GAS’ an acronym of the initials of their first names.

“I, Girish, and Congress leader Shantilal Suratwala were close friends for the last 30 to 40 years. I am saddened that our association for all these years has ended today. For the last several days, he was suffering from ailments and was undergoing dialysis at the hospital,” said Kakade, who was closely associated with Bapat.

In Kakade’s words, Bapat enjoyed cordial relations with everyone including those from rival political parties.

This helped him politically as well. In 1980s, despite BJP not being in power in the PMC, Bapat was elected as the standing committee chairman, owing to his friendship across the partylines. During 2007, it was Bapat’s initiative along with Ajit Pawar’s strategy that city politics witnessed radical change when BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP joined hands to keep Congress out of power.

Later, he represented the tricky Kasba Peth Assembly segment for five consecutive terms for the BJP between 1995 and 2019, when he was elected as an MP from Pune city.

Sharing old memories about Bapat, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, the late MP maintained good relations with everyone, be it a peon or a senior leader. “As MLA, we used to stay in Majestic hostel when Bapat used to cook food for us. He had command over various things. It takes 40 years to make leader like Girish Bapat. His demise is big loss to us,” Fadnavis said.

Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP high command had dropped its sitting MP Anil Shirole in favour of Bapat. The latter then defeated his Congress rival Mohan Joshi by a colossal margin of nearly 3.30 lakh votes

A veteran Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker, Bapat, despite being friends with everyone, did not let his ideological commitment dilute at any point.

In the recently held Kasba Peth bypolls, Bapat’s absence was felt among BJP cadres as party sensed it is losing the seat which was known as its bastion for three decades. Bapat immediately expressed his desire to step out and campaigned briefly. Many, then saw him on wheelchair with his nasal cannula on.

“He always had excellent relations with not just people within his party but with those from other parties as well. Till the last moment, Bapat worked for BJP. The state has lost a friendly and kind-hearted leader,” said Eknath Shinde in his condolence message.

In politics, Bapat rose through the ranks. His first frush with politics came during emergency when Bapat was imprisoned at Nashik central prison for 19 months. It propelled him into politics. He later served as the head of the standing committee in Pune municipal corporation (PMC) and went on to become an MLA and an MP. “He always highlighted issues concerning Pune

Bapat’s passing away has not just created void for BJP in Pune but it the politics, a cultured face will be forever gone.