Maharashtra Opposition leader Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday expressed shock over the death of Congress Lok Sabha MP Suresh alias Balu Dhanorkar and said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has lost one of its staunch supporters.
Dhanorkar (47), the Congress' lone Lok Sabha member from Maharashtra, died early Tuesday at a Gurugram -based private hospital, where he was admitted following complications after a surgery to remove kidney stones.
“It is shocking that he died at such a young age. With his demise, the Maha Vikas Aghadi has lost a staunch supporter,” Pawar said.
The Opposition MVA alliance in the state consists of the Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena (UBT).
The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly said the Lok Sabha member from Chandrapur in eastern Maharashtra knew the pulse of the people and worked hard for development of his home district.
He recalled how Dhanorkar, a former Shiv Sena leader, approached him for a poll ticket from Chandrapur after the seat went to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a seat-sharing agreement with the united Shiv Sena during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The parliamentary constituency was allocated to the Congress in its seat-sharing pact with the NCP. Dhanorkar quit the Shiv Sena to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate.
The former deputy CM said it was NCP president Sharad Pawar who called then-Congress president Sonia Gandhi and recommended Dhanorkar's candidature from Chandrapur.
The Congress candidate went on to defeat then-Union minister Hansraj Ahir and wrested the Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat for his party.
“Dhanorkar won at a time when there was a massive pro-Modi wave in the country and the state,” the senior NCP leader maintained.
Pawar also recalled how Dhanorkar provided space to the NCP for opening an office.
The Congress leader underwent treatment for kidney stones at a hospital in Nagpur on May 26 and was rushed to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram neighbouring Delhi on Sunday after he developed complications. Dhanorkar is survived by wife Pratibha, an MLA, and two sons.
-With PTI Input
