For Gopinath Munde's Funeral, a Sea of People in Beed

Beed, Maharashtra: Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde, who died after a road accident in Delhi yesterday, will be cremated with full state honours at his native village in Maharashtra's Beed district this afternoon. (Gopinath Munde Died of Multiple Internal Injuries: Autopsy Report)

His body was flown to Latur from Mumbai this morning and then taken to Nathra, a 2500-strong village in Beed's Parli taluka. It is currently being kept at the Vaijnath Sugar Factory campus, where thousands of mourners have gathered from all over the country to pay their last respects to their leader.  (Left Orphaned by His Death: Cry From Gopinath Munde's Village)

Mr Munde's eldest daughter Pankaja Munde-Palve, who is also an MLA from Parli, will perform the last rites. Top BJP leaders including LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj and many other union ministers, Maharashtra politicians, chief ministers of several states and party activists from all over the country are expected to attend the funeral.

Late on Tuesday evening, Mr Munde's body was brought to Mumbai from Delhi and kept at his residence in Worli, where relatives, friends and close acquaintances besides VVIPs paid their last respects.  (See Pics: Leaders Pay Homage to Gopinath Munde)

The 64-year-old was sworn in as a Cabinet minister last week. Considered the BJP's tallest leader in Maharashtra, he died after a road accident in Delhi yesterday. He was on his way to the airport to go to Beed, his Lok Sabha constituency, for a victory rally, when an Indica car crashed into his SX4.

He was rushed to the trauma centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and was pronounced dead at 7.20 am on Tuesday.  (Gopinath Munde's Death and the Ominous Shadow of Number 3)

Mr Munde's body was kept for about an hour at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, where leaders across party lines, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, gathered to pay their tributes. 

The driver of the Indica, who was arrested and charged with causing death due to negligence and rash driving, has been granted bail by a Delhi court.