Shimla, Jul 9 (IANS): BJP President J.P. Nadda, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, along with other political leaders, paid floral tributes to six-time Himachal CM and Congress stalwart Virbhadra Singh by laying wreath on his mortal remains here on Friday.

Virbhadra Singh passed away on Thursday at the age of 87 after prolonged illness at Shimla's Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC).

The leaders expressed their heartfelt condolences to Singh's wife, Pratibha Singh, a two-time former MP, and son, Vikramaditya Singh, a legislator from Shimla rural.

Hundreds of people, comprising politicians cutting across party lines, started arriving at the historic Ridge early on Friday, where the mortal remains of Singh were kept for people to pay their last respect.

Later, the body was taken to the state Congress office -- Rajiv Bhawan -- on the Cart Road from where it was taken to the Padam Palace, the ancestral house of Singh in Rampur, some 120 km from here.

Rahul Gandhi paid his last respects to the departed leader at the Congress office, while Nadda and Thakur paid tributes when the mortal remains were kept at the Ridge, an open space just above the Mall.

On Saturday, the body will be kept at Padam Palace for 'antim darshan' from 8 am to 2 pm before the funeral at 3 pm.

Singh's body was kept at his private residence -- Holly Lodge -- here for the entire day on Thursday for 'antim darshan'.