Both houses of parliament were adjourned on Tuesday as a mark of respect for the Lok Sabha's most senior parliamentarian. Mr Gupta was elected to the Lok Sabha eleven times since 1960 when he won his first parliamentary election from West Bengal. Glowing tributes were paid to Mr Gupta in both houses.

Party leaders spoke in superlative terms about his debating skills and erudition. Those who spoke included Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and his long-time friend and CPI(M) leader Somnath Chatterjee, among others.

Mr Vajpayee said that his death had caused a great loss to Parliament. His contribution for the welfare of the down-trodden was immense, the prime minister said.

As an able parliamentarian, Mr Gupta always suggested ways to bring about consensus when there were differences of opinion on contentious issues, he recalled.