Pune: Senior BJP leader and former MLC Prof Narayan Sadashiv Pharande passed away in a private hospital here this morning after suffering a cardiac arrest, an official said. 

He was 78. 

Pharande was admitted to the city-based MJM Hospital about a fortnight ago after he suffered from intra-cranial bleeding (cerebral hemorrhage) which caused paralysis, the official at the hospital said. 

He died after suffering a cardiac arrest this morning, he said. 

The leader is survived by wife and two daughters. 

Pharande had served as the chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1998 to 2004 and also as the BJP state president from 1991 to 1995. 

The leader, popularly known as Na Sa Pharande, was elected thrice as the Member of the Legislative Council. 

"Besides being an ace politician, he was a fine speaker and a scholar of Sant literature," BJP city president Yogesh Gogawale said. 

Originally hailing from Satara district, Pharande was a gold medallist in Marathi and Sanskrit from Shivaji University in Kolhapur. 

He later went to Kopargaon in Ahmednagar district where he worked in a college as a professor of Marathi. 

For the last several years, he was settled in Pune. 

His last rites will be performed here later today, a family member said.