Rahul holds prayer meet for Mulayam during Bharat Jodo Yatra

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi held a prayer meeting in the memory of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav at his resting camp here on Monday and paid tributes to the departed leader.

Gandhi, taking part in his party's Bharat Jodo Yatra, held a five-minute ''shok sabha'' and observed silence for two minutes in the memory of Yadav, a former Defence minister and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

He was joined by senior Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Randeep Surjewala and Karnataka unit chief D K Shivakumar.

Gandhi earlier described Yadav as a ''true warrior'' of grassroots politics.

Yadav, who was born in a farming family and went on to spawn the state's most prominent political clan, died at a Gurugram hospital on Monday after a prolonged illness. He was 82.

''The death of Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav ji is very sad news. He was a true warrior of grassroots politics,'' Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. ''I express my deepest condolences to all the bereaved family members including Shri Akhilesh Yadav,'' the former Congress chief said.