NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) says its former General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet has died. He was 93.

Surjeet is survived by wife Pritam Kaur, two sons and a daughter.

The party says in a statement that Surjeet died yesterday after a prolonged illness.

Surjeet had been active in communist politics since the 1930s and had been a member of the CPI-M since 1964, serving as its general secretary from 1992 to 2005.

The party statement says, “In his death, the party has lost an outstanding leader and the country an authoritative representative of the left and secular tradition.”

The veteran communist leader, who once tore down the Union Jack during British rule in Hoshiarpur in his native Punjab and hoisted the tricolor to mark the first anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh and happily went to prison for the act, was sometimes called the “uncrowned prime minister of India” for his role in putting together various coalition governments through the years.

His funeral will be held tomorrow, with the body kept for public viewing at the CPI-M headquarters in New Delhi before that.

As news of his death came in, condolence messages started pouring in for the white turbaned leader who bridged the years between the heady days of the freedom struggle and the modern India of today.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in an emotional statement from Colombo where he had gone to attend the SAARC Summit: “(Surjeet was) a great political leader, a true patriot, a man committed to the welfare of the downtrodden, a great Indian and above all a dear friend.”

The prime minister, who described him as one of the “architects” of his United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, said he had always valued Surjeet’s advice.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil said that Surjeet will “always be remembered by the countrymen as a statesman and a very good human being.”

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, broke down when he reached the hospital.

Amongst his other colleagues who reached the hospital were CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat as well as politburo members Brinda Karat, Sitaram Yechury and S. Ramachandra Pillai.

Describing his death as an “irreparable loss” to the country, Prakash Karat said he was a man who “never wavered in his faith in Marxism even after the collapse of the Soviet Union.”

“In his death, the communist movement and progressive and secular forces have suffered an irreparable loss,” Karat said.

Pointing out that Surjeet had championed the cause of the farmers, poor and the downtrodden, Vice President Hamid Ansari said he had earned the admiration of the people for his dedication and sense of public service.

“In his death, the country has lost an eminent personality who was always sensitive to the social concerns of our times,” Ansari said.