"Very, very sad news. I had a special bond with Kalam'ji. He was one of India's favorite sons and one of my favourite people. A very sad day," Banerjee said in a tweet from the United Kingdom where she was on a five-day visit.
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam, a popular head of state between 2002 and 2007, died today after he collapsed during a lecture at Shillong.