When he won the recent assembly election emphatically, we all believed that he is poised to play a bigger role in the national politics. But this did not happen,' Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said.

Communist Party of India leader D. Raja said: 'He was quite friendly and generous person. He was a very affectionate leader. It's a very tragic loss.'

Union Minister for Tourism Selja also visited the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan to offer her respects to the departed leader.

The information officer of the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan Kiran Kumar told IANS: 'Seven days of state mourning has been declared. Today (Thursday), tomorrow (Friday) and day after tomorrow (Saturday) will be institutional holidays. His funeral will take place on Saturday.'

The happening Andhra cafe, which is visited by nearly 5,000 people daily, had fewer number of footfalls. The cafe decided to cancel its dinner services to mourn the death of the leader.

'People are sad. There is a definite decrease in the number of people coming here. Dinner will not be served today (Thursday),' Supervisor Satyanarayan told IANS.

Krishna Reddy, one of the visitors who came to pay his homage, said: 'He (YSR) was one of the greatest leaders and a visionary. He worked for the common man. The people will miss him.'

Joshua Jena, an NGO worker from Andhra Pradesh, said: 'I met Mr. Reddy in 2006. He was a wonderful guy and a very dynamic leader who worked for the needy, the downtrodden and the minorities.'

'It's a great, great loss for the state. He did wonders for Andhra.'