Kalyan Singh had 'magical connect' with masses: President Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday condoled the death of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and senior BJP leader Kalyan Singh saying he had a "magical connect" with the masses.

Singh (89), breathed his last at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) in Lucknow.

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"Kalyan Singh ji had a magical connect with masses. As chief minister of UP, he determinedly pursued clean politics and purged governance of criminals and corruption," the president said in a message on Twitter.

"He dignified the offices he held. His demise leaves a vacuum in public life. My heartfelt condolences," Kovind said.

A backward caste leader, Singh was instrumental in the BJP's rise to power in Uttar Pradesh in the 1990s and was the chief minister of the state when the Babri mosque was demolished in Ayodhya in 1992.