NEW DELHI: Former Indian Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar died of cancer on Sunday in New Delhi at the age of 80, a hospital statement said. Chandra Shekhar, who headed a coalition government as India's 11th prime minister from 1990 to 1991, was a socialist politician from the country's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh in the north.

“He had been suffering from multiple myeloma for the past few years and, unfortunately, succumbed to the illness and passed away this morning at 8:45 am (0315 GMT),” said a statement from Apollo Hospital, where he was being treated.

Multiple myeloma is cancer of the plasma cell.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described Chandra Shekhar as a “truly secular nationalist, who worked for the people's welfare and national development”.

Chandra Shekhar was a sitting member of the lower house of parliament to which he was elected for an eighth term in 2004.

He was a member of the ruling Congress party — which heads the present federal coalition — until the 1970.—Reuters