Congress president Sonia Gandhi mourned the death of former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma, who died of heart attack on Friday at the age of 68.
"The nation had lost a tall leader and the northeast has lost an important voice," Gandhi said in her condolence message.
Gandhi, against whose leadership Sangma rebelled to break away from the Congress, also recalled Sangma's contributions as a public representative, union minister, chief minister and Lok Sabha speaker.
Sangma served the 16th Lok Sabha as speaker in 1996-98. He was the chief minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990.