New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS): The Election Commission (EC) on Monday expressed deep grief on the death of former President Pranab Mukherjee with Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora describing the loss of the leader having "encyclopaedic knowledge".

Expressing grief, Arora said "In his demise, the nation has lost a widely respected savant and a 'Rajrishi' known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of economic, constitutional and historical affairs."

Recalling Mukherjee's specific association with the EC, Arora said despite failing health he had graciously accepted the Commission's invitation and delivered the first Sukumar Sen Memorial Lecture organised on January 23 this year.

Mukherjee, as President of the republic, had addressed EC's National Voters Day event twice in 2016 and 2017. "May God give his family the strength to bear this irreparable loss," Arora added.

Mukherjee, elder statesman and one of the country's most respected politicians, died at 84. The former President, who tested positive for coronavirus, had been in coma after a brain surgery earlier this month. On Monday morning, the Army hospital in Delhi had reported a decline in his condition. He had gone into septic shock due to his lung infection, the Army's Research and Referral Hospital had said.

Mukherjee, who was President of India from 2012 to 2017, was hospitalised at 12.07 p.m. on August 10 in a critical condition.