New Delhi, Jun 3 (PTI): Gopinath Munde, Union Rural Development Minister and a popular backward class leader from Maharashtra, died on Tuesday apparently of shock and cardiac arrest suffered during a road accident early in the morning.

Munde, 64, who made his entry into the Union Cabinet for the first time last week, was on his way to the airport when his car was hit by another vehicle at the roundabout of Prithviraj Road and Tughlak Road in the heart of the capital.

A brother-in-law of the late Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, Munde is survived by his wife and three daughters, one of whom is an legislator from Parli in Maharashtra's Beed district.

”Munde was brought to the emergency department of Jai Prakash Narain Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS, at 6:30am by his personal assistant and driver. Munde was sitting in the backseat of his car which was hit by another car or any other vehicle at around 6:20am from the side he was sitting,” Dr Amit Gupta of the Trauma Centre told reporters.

”On his arrival at the Trauma Centre, there was no spontaneous breathing, no blood pressure, no pulse, no cardiac activity. So immediately Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was started and continued for the next 15 minutes. Despite resuscitative measures, Munde could not be revived and was declared dead at 7:20 AM,” he said.

The doctor said, “Munde was hypertensive and a sugar patient. He was already taking medicines. Right now there are no major external injuries on his body. We cannot say anything but clinically we might say that he had a sudden cardiac death”.

The body has been shifted to the mortuary for post mortem examination. The head of forensics has set up a board to conduct the post mortem examination.

As it is a medico-legal case, the reason for the death can only be ascertained after post mortem examination, the doctor said.

Munde's Secretary S Nair, who was in the car, said the Union Minister received a huge shock after the accident and apparently suffered a massive heart attack.

A senior police official said the offending vehicle was an Indica car that jumped the traffic signal at Aurobindo Chowk and collided with the Maruti Suzuki SX 4 in which Munde was travelling towards Safdarjung road from Prithviraj road.

The Indica was coming towards Tughlaq Road, a little over a km from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official residence, and hit Munde's car towards the passenger side where Munde was sitting, the police offical said, adding Munde fell on the seat immediately after the car was hit.

The driver of the Indica car was detained from the spot and later arrested by police.

Police said Munde had some minor abrasions on his nose.

After the accident, Munde sought water and asked his driver to take him to the hospital, police said.

Munde was considered the architect of social engineering in the BJP since the mid-1990s and was responsible for adding parties like RPI and Rashtriya Samaj Party and Swabhimani Paksh into the Sena-BJP alliance that virtually swept the polls winning 42 of the 48 seats.

On Monday night, he had attended a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers called by the Prime Minister and was proceeding to Mumbai for work when the accident occurred.

Munde hailed from a poor family in the backward Marathwada region and was brought into politics by the late BJP leader Vasantrao Bhagwat, who also groomed several other leaders including Pramod Mahajan.

Munde was recently caught in a row over his educational qualifications with Congress alleging that he “graduated” in 1976 from a college established in 1978.

Condoling his death, Prime Minister Modi said he was extremely saddened and shocked by demise of “my friend” Munde.

As a mark of respect to Munde, the national flag is being flown at half-mast in Delhi, state capitals and Union Territories today.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who was the first to reach AIIMS, said doctors tried their best to revive him.

Union Highways and Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, who was also there at the hospital, said Munde will be cremated in his native village in Beed in Maharashtra on Wednesday.

His body will be kept at the BJP headquarters between 12:30pm and 1:30pm before being shifted to Latur.

The Union Cabinet is meeting at 4pm to offer its condolence over the death of Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde following a road accident.