According to senior party leader and Minsiter for Road Transport and Highways Shipping Nitin Gadkari, Munde was on his way to the airport when the accident occurred on Tuesday morning.

Munde, a senior politician from Maharashtra was sworn in as the Cabinet Minister for Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation and Rural Development on May 26. His name was also till recently in the reckoning for the position of Maharashtra Chief Minister, The Hindu reported.

Munde was the brother-in-law of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan. Born on December 12, 1949 in Bheed,  Munde came from a family of farmers and during his college days was drawn to the students' movement.

He was elected to Lok Sabha in 2009 and 2014, and served as the Deputy Leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha.  Munde won the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Beed Constituency by a margin of 2 lakh, defeating NCP's Suresh Dhas.

President Pranab Mukherjee condoled the death of Union Minister Gopinath Munde.

Condoling his death Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “Condolences to Munde ji's family. We stand by them in this hour of grief”.

His body will be kept at the BJP Headquarters to allow people to pay their last respects. (KH/SI)