NEW DELHI, Oct 10: UP's veteran politician, three times Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party founder, Mulayam Singh Yadav died on Monday morning at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, National Capital Region, where he had been on life-support system for several days. He was 82.

"Mulayam Singh Yadav's death pains me; he was a remarkable personality and was widely admired as a humble and grounded leader," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced three-day State mourning.

Commonly addressed as Netaji, Mulayam Singh had kept himself away from active politics since long and his son Akhilesh Yadav has been leading the Samajwadi Party since 2017.

A wrestler-turned-politician, Mulayam Singh was also Union Defence Minister during 1996-98. He served as MLA and MP several times. He had forged several coalitions in order to remain in power. He was considered by many as a socialist.

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has mourned the death of Mulayam Singh. Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said his contribution to politics as Defence Minister and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh will always be remembered.

Mulayam's arch-enemy BSP chief Mayawati tweeted that the news of Mulayam's death is very disappointing and expressed her condolences to his family.

The last rites of the late SP leader will be performed in Saifai on Tuesday at 3 pm. The body will be flown from Delhi to Lucknow where it will be kept at the party office for people to pay their last respects. From there it will be flown to Saifai, his birthplace, for the last rites. Saifai is a village in UP's Etawah district.

Mulayam Singh's wife Sadhana Gupta had passed away in July this year after prolonged illness. Sadhana Gupta was Mulayam's second wife. His first wife Malti Devi had died in 2003. Current SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is Mulayam's son from the first marriage.