Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi paid their last respects to veteran leader Murli Deora, who breathed his last early this morning, at the party office here.
The Congress president's daughter, Priyanka Gandhi, and her son-in-law Robert Vadra, were also present at the party office here.
Other prominent Congress leaders, including Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vohra and former union minister Anand Sharma also paid their last respects to the veteran leader.
BJP leader and Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray were also present.
The 77-year-old Congress leader, who was suffering from cancer, breathed his last at 3.25 a.m. in Mumbai after a prolonged illness.He is survived by his wife and two sons.
The funeral will be held at Girgaum's Chandanwadi Crematorium.
Deora held several important positions during his decades-long political career. During the UPA-1 regime, Deora was the Minister for 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 India's 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 Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology in July 2011.
