Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Murli Deora passed away here on early Monday morning, after prolonged illness.
The 77-year-old who was suffering from cancer breathed his last at 3.25 am. He was survived by his wife and two sons, including former MP Milind Deora.
As per reports, the funeral will be held at Girgaun's Chandanwadi at 4 p.m.
Deora held several important positions during his decades long political career.
Deora, an economics graduate, was mayor of Mumbai from 1977 to 1978. Later he was 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 ex-Union minister. Currently, he was serving his third term as a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament.
During the UPA-1 regime Deora held the portfolio of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The Congress veteran had also served as the Mumbai Congress president for 22 years.
In 2006, he joined the Union Cabinet and led the oil diplomacy in Myanmar, Algeria and Egypt, and held talks with ministers from Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia and Comoros.
Deora also hosted the first India-Africa Hydrocarbon Conference and Exhibition in November 2007.
He became the minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, in July 2011.
