New Delhi, Sep 3 - Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Thursday said that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's death was 'a big loss' for Andhra Pradesh as well as the Congress party.

'The death of Rajasekhara Reddy in a tragic helicopter accident has shocked everyone. His untimely death is a big loss for Andhra Pradesh and the Congress,' he said in a statement.

Karat offered his sympathies to the families of the chief minister as well as the four others who died when their helicopter crashed in a forest in Kurnool district a day earlier.