Senior Shiv Sena MLA Prakash Bala Sawant passed away in the early hours of Friday after a prolonged illness. He was 64. The funeral took place this afternoon at the Bandra crematorium. The body was kept at his house till 2 PM to pay the final respects after which it was taken around his Bandra East constituency before the last rites.
Sena President Uddhav Thackeray was also present at the cremation.
"He had been keeping unwell for a long time. Two days back he was admitted to a hospital but was brought home later. He passed away at around 12.30 AM," a Sena leader said.
Sawant, a three time corporator, was considered close to the Thackeray family. He had first won the state Assembly election from Bandra East constituency in 2009 on the party ticket.
In the Assembly elections last year, Sawant trounced BJP's sitting corporator Krishna Parkar, MNS's Shilpa Sarpotdar and Congress leader Sunil Bagdi.
Condoling Sawant's death, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that people of his constituency have lost a fighter who stood up for the needs of common man.
"I received immense assistance from him during his tenure as an MLA. He was known to be a go-to man for the common people who could look up to him in times of distress. He had also done immense work for people when he was a BMC corporator," Fadnavis said.
