Mumbai, Jan 12 (IANS) Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and legislator Gurunath Kulkarni passed away here Wednesday after prolonged illness, a party official said. He was 70.
He is survived by his wife and a daughter, a medico settled in the US.
Kulkarni, the party’s state general secretary, was suffering from a heart ailment and diabetes. He was put on life-support systems in the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital since the past fortnight.
A lawyer by profession, Kulkarni lived in Tilak Nagar, north-east Mumbai, and practiced in the Bombay High Court till 1969 before joining the Congress party as an ordinary worker.
He joined the NCP when the party split in 1999. Gradually, he grew up in the ranks to become a member of the legislative council and also the party’s state general secretary, a post which he held till he breathed his last Wednesday. He also functioned as the party’s official spokesperson for a while and became a favourite of the state media.
His body will be kept in the NCP state headquarters at Nariman Point to enable party workers pay homage to the departed leader Thursday.
Later in the afternoon, his body will be taken in a procession and the last rites will be performed at the Dadar Crematorium.
