Pranab Mukherjee mourns Surjeet's demise

New Delhi, August 1 : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today expressed deep sorrow at the demise of veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet.

He said while talking to ANI: "He was suffering from quite some time and was not in a position to communicate. I wanted to talk to him but he was hospitalized. He was doyen of Indian communist movement. Particularly Prime Minister, President and myself admitted that he was the architecture of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) left coalition, which was functioning well since the last four years."

Surjeet along with Jyoti Basu were the architect of the mechanism apart from that his death will be the irreparable loss to the working class we are deeply mournful.

Surjeet was admitted at the Metro Hospital in Noida where he was treated for respiratory problems. Earlier, he had slipped into coma.

The veteran CPI (M) leader was suffering from cardiac-respiratory problems. He was 92.

With his health declining, Surjeet was, for the first time, not included in the CPI (M) Polit Bureau at the party's 19th congress in early April 2008. He was instead designated as Special Invitee to the Central Committee.

He was the General Secretary of the CPI (M) from 1992 to 2005 and was a member of the party's Polit Bureau from 1964 to 2008.

After retiring from his post as General Secretary, Surjeet continued to play an active role in politics. By Naveen Kapoor

ANI