Thursday, March 31 2005 18:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee today (Mar 31, 2005) expressed shock and grief over the death of Haryana Ministers O P Jindal and Surender Singh and other crewmembers in a helicopter crash in Uttar Pradesh.

The Prime Minister, currently on a State visit to Mauritius, sent his condolence to the members of the bereaved family.

Former Prime Minister Vajpayee and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president L K Advani also expressed shock at the death of Jindal, Power Minister in the Haryana Government and Surender Singh, the State's Agriculture Minister.

"I am shocked to learn about the tragic demise of Jindal, Singh and other passengers," the senior BJP leader said in a message in New Delhi.

Vajpayee expressed his heart-felt condolences to the bereaved families, while Advani spoke to Bansi Lal and expressed his deepest condolence.

Senior Congress leader Motilal Vora said that the State and the party have lost popular representatives of the people.

"I was stunned after hearing the news of the death of Jindal and Singh. I knew Jindal for years, as an industrialist as well as a popular public figure. We are extremely shocked and grieved over the death of the two leaders," he said.

Vora, who has been All India congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Haryana earlier and played significant role in the just concluded assembly polls, expressed sorrow over the tragic death of Singh, the son of former Haryana Minister Bansi Lal, and described him as an young and able leader of the party.

Janata Dal (United) Sharad Yadav also coveyed his heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family.