Madhya Pradesh Governor and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Ram Prakash Gupta passed away on Saturday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi after a prolonged illness.

Gupta, 82, who breathed his last at 1145 IST, was admitted to the institute on April 21.

Gupta, who had taken over as governor of Madhya Pradesh in May last year, is survived by his wife and two sons.

The mortal remains of Gupta will be taken by a special aircraft to Bhopal later in the day and kept at the Raj Bhawan
before being flown to Lucknow for last rites.

Condoling his death, Union minister and BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley said he was an honest and sincere leader who
believed in the politics of principles. "The whole nation and the party pays homage to the great leader," he said.