KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress leader Chiranjeevi Nidhi Tiwari died at the Harisiddhi-based Nepal Cancer Hospital, where he was admitted after suffering cardiac attack, on Wednesday. He was 72.

Tiwari suffered from pancreatic cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy in recent days. Earlier, he had undergone surgery in Medanta Hospial in Guragaon. He was permanent resident of Dillibazar in Kathmandu.

Tiwari, who was involved in democratic movements in the country as a loyal cadre of Nepali Congress, had contested the general elections in 2056 from Kathmandu Constituency No 3. After losing the polls, the party had made him a candidate for the Upper House from the Central Development Region.

Tiwari was a famed entrepreneur and was once associated with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce (FNCCI).

He is survived by wife, two sons and two daughters.

It has been learned that he would be cremated at the Pashupati Aryaghat this evening. His eldest son Amrit, who was in Australia, is scheduled to reach Kathmandu today for the final rites.

Tiwari's body would be kept at the Aryaghat on the bank of Bagmati River from 6 pm to 8 pm to let the Nepali Congress cadres and his sympathisers to pay their tributes to Tiwari, a statement issued by the Nepali Congress central office said.

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and the party's central office have expressed grief over Tiwari's passing.