Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 31 (PTI) Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and leaders of various political parties on Monday condoled the demise of former President Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukherjee.

Condoling the "sad demise" of Mukherjee, the Governor said in a tweet that he was an exceptional statesman with unparallelled experience in administration and parliamentary proceedings.

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Describing him as a "true Bharat Ratna and the embodiment of the Indian ideal, "ever devoted to the pursuit of knowledge", Khan said "this is what made him so capable to handle difficult situations".

"Shri #PranabMukhejree was a scholar who strayed into politics.

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He symbolised the values of Indian Renaissance which started in Bengal.

Those values reflected in his personality.

My heartfelt condolence", the Governor tweeted.

In his condolence message, the Chief Minister said Mukherjee stood for the protection and empowerment of constitutional values and constantly strived to inculcate values in the society, including secularism.

"Mukherjee, a staunch supporter of Nehruvian political culture, played a leading role in spreading the light of scientific logic and fighting against superstitions in society," the Chief Minister said.

Mukherjee will always be remembered as an eminent parliamentarian and an eloquent Speaker, Vijayan said.

He also said that Mukherjee had maintained a deep and friendly relationship with Kerala and its people.

"The demise of Pranab Kumar Mukherjee is a great loss to the nation and the people," the Chief Minister said.

Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan said Mukherjee, a popular leader and an able administrator, held the office of the President of India beyond politics.

Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy said the Congress party has lost a strong leader who cannot be replaced.

"He worked for the party for five long decades and his demise creates an irreplaceable vacuum for the Congress and its workers", said the former Chief Minister.

In his condolence message, BJP state president K Surendran said Mukherjee was a strong leader who was able to express his stand clearly.

"When Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014, Mukherjee maintained a cordial relation with the central government.

The democratic values which he upheld and his deep knowledge made him a respectable personality among the people from all walks of life," Surendran said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)