He was senior member of Nationalist Congress Party.
He is a three time member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Pune Cantonment constituency in Pune as member of the Janata Party.
His son Chetan Vitthal Tupe is the MLA from Hadapsar Assembly constituency.
In 1998, Tupe won the Pune Lok Sabha constituency on an Indian National Congress ticket but joined the Nationalist Congress Party after Sharad Pawar left the Indian National Congress.
He first became an MLA winning from Pune Cantonment Assembly constituency on Janata Party ticket in the 1978 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election.