Senior BJP leader and former cabinet minister in Maharashtra, Madhukar Pichad, has passed away in Nashik. He was 84. He had been receiving treatment at a private hospital after suffering a brain stroke last month and was in critical condition. Madhukar Pichad served as the MLA for the Akole assembly constituency for seven consecutive terms. During his career, he held several important portfolios, including the Ministry of Tribal Development, Ministry of Dairy Development, Ministry of Tourism Development, and the Ministry of Nomadic Tribes and Other Backward Classes Welfare, under various chief ministers. He also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from March 1995 to July 1999. He began his political career in the Congress but later left the party with Sharad Pawar to join the Nationalist Congress Party. In 2019, he joined the BJP, along with his son, Vaibhav Pichad.