Chennai, Aug. 16 -- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tamilisai Soundararajan called Nagaland Governor La Ganesan, who passed away Friday evening in Chennai, as a "great patriot".

Recalling his contributution to the Tamil literarture and humble beginnings, Soundararajan told ANI, ""It's a big loss not only for the party but also for the whole nation... He was a great patriot, and he died on Independence Day... He was not only a politician but also a literary expert. He had the literary forum to spread the Tamil literature among the people"

"From being an RSS cadre, he rose to the level of governor with his hard work...," the BJP leader told ANI,in her tributes.

La Ganesan passed away at 6:23 pm on August 15 at Apollo Hospital in Chen...