Veteran BJP leader and parliamentarian Ram Kapse died early on Tuesday morning after a prolonged illness.
Kapse, 82, who was in bad health for the last eight years, passed away at around 4 am at his residence in Kalyan in Thane district, Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told PTI.
The last rites will be performed in Kalyan on Tuesday.
Born on 1 December, 1933, Kapse joined politics in Maharashtra as a BJP leader and represented Thane in the 9th and the 10th Lok Sabha. He was also elected as MLA from Kalyan Vidhan Sabha constituency of Maharashtra in 1985.
He also served as Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Kapse was also a professor of Marathi and taught the language at DG Ruparel College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Matunga, Mumbai.
Veteran BJP leader Ram Kapse, 82, passed away. RIP. A gentleman politician. Professor of Marathi. Remember his class in Ruparel college.
— nikhil wagle (@waglenikhil) September 29, 2015
Political leaders, including Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, paid their respects to Kapse.
Condolences to family of Ram Kapse, superlative parliamentarian,G8leader,exemplary public representative.We will miss him,inspired by memory — Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) September 29, 2015
Saddened by demise of our senior leader,a great parliamentarian,our inspiration,former Lt Governor Prof Ram Kapse ji pic.twitter.com/XM8rMBUIVl
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) September 29, 2015
"Rambhau was one of the leaders who expanded @BJP4India 's base in Maharashtra & always worked hard to solve problems of the common man... My deepest condolences to Ram Kapse ji's family, friends and all Karyakartas of @BJP4India," Fadnavis wrote in another tweet.
Maharashtra lost a gem! Ram Kapse ji's demise is an intimate loss. He was a mentor, leader, a guiding force and a true patriot. RIP Kapse ji
— Vinod Tawde (@TawdeVinod) September 29, 2015
Tributes to Late Prof Ram Kapse, ex-MP and one of the early organiser-leaders of Jan Sangh and BJP, great teacher n erudite parliamentarian — Vinay Sahasrabuddhe (@vinay1011) September 29, 2015
