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President A P J Abdul Kalam said the nation has suffered an irreparable loss and deprived of a man of great eminence in the untimely death of Vice-President Krishan Kant.
"I am deeply shocked and grieved to learn of the sad and untimely demise," the President said in a condolence message.
The President visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and met Suman Kant and other members of the vice-president's family.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said with Vice-President Krishan Kant's death an era has come to an end.
"The untimely demise of Krishan Kant has left the entire nation in a state of shock. It is an end of an era," he said at AIIMS after conveying his condolences to Suman Kant.
"He fought the Britishers first and later fought for democracy during the Emergency. Till yesterday he was with us and today we are condoling his death," the prime minister said.
Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, who was among the early callers at AIIMS, described Kant's death as a "big loss to the nation, Parliament and public life."
"He and his entire family were devoted to the freedom struggle and the nation. He was a special person in all respects. His death is a major setback," Advani told reporters.
Recalling his long association with the late leader, he said, "our closeness grew during the Emergency and the JP movement. When everyone was sleeping, he was awake and worked till midnight. His life was an example for others."
Former prime minister I K Gujral said in Kant's death, "I have lost a friend and brother." Describing the long association between his family and Kant's family, Gujral said, "he was an idealist and we were in jail together."
Justice H R Khanna, former judge of the Supreme Court, said the country has lost a great human being who belonged to a family of freedom fighters. He was among the first to raise the voice against criminalisation of politics, Justice Khanna said.
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