Senior Shiv Sena leader and former minister Pramod Navalkar died on Tuesday following a heart attack, party sources said.
Navalkar, 75, was a veteran journalist and columnist and had written nearly 50 books.
He was a minister in the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra in 1995-99.
Navalkar was resting at his house when he complained of chest pain, which proved to be a heart attack.
He is survived by his wife and a daughter. The funeral will take place on Wednesday, party sources said.
Navalkar was a high profile minister for cultural affairs in the Sena-BJP government and was also regarded as a prominent moral policeman.