File photo: Senior Congress leader and former union minister Murli Deora
Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Murli Deora died in the early hours in Mumbai today. The 77-year-old was suffering from cancer.
Mr Deora, a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha, died at 3:25 am. He had reportedly been discharged from the Breach Candy hospital in the city just two days ago.
"My deepest condolences to @milinddeora & the Deora family on Shri Murli Deora's demise. May his soul rest in peace," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted this morning.
"One of the most amiable persons I knew. He had friends across Party Line. We shall forever miss him. Our condolences to the family," tweeted senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.
Mr Deora's body will be kept at the Congress office in Mumbai from 12 pm to 2 pm for party workers to pay their last respects.
His funeral will take place at the Chandanvadi crematorium at 3 pm.
The Congress veteran is survived by his wife and two sons, including former MP and ex-union minister Milind Deora.
Murli Deora, who held several important portfolios during his decades-long career, first contested the civic elections in Mumbai in 1975.
An economics graduate, Mr Deora was the Mayor of Mumbai from 1977-78 and was later elected to the Lok Sabha four times from Mumbai South, a seat later held by his son, Milind, who is also a former MP and an ex-Union minister.
He held the portfolio of Petroleum and Natural Gas during the UPA-1 regime. The senior Congress leader had also served as the President of Congress's Mumbai unit for 22 years.
He joined the Union Cabinet in 2006, shortly before he turned 70 and led oil diplomacy in Myanmar, Algeria and Egypt, and held talks with ministers from Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia and Comoros.
Mr Deora also hosted the first India-Africa Hydrocarbon Conference and Exhibition in November 2007.