KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress' elder leader and former minister Ramhari Joshi passed away at 7:30pm today. He was 91.

Suffering from asthma and pneumonia, leader Joshi was undergoing treatment at the Grande Hospital where he breathed his last, his nephew Bishnu Joshi said.

He was admitted to the hospital after he fell in bathroom of his house and was hurt on July 5. Joshi had been living at his relative's house in Nakhkhipot, Lalitpur. His permanent address is Sarlahi.

The elder leader of the NC among the party's contemporaries was unmarried. Joshi, who struggled for the party and the democracy for long, was the Minister for Tourism in 1991 in the Girija Prasad Koirala-led government.

Born in Sarlahi district, Joshi was popular among the NC leaders as a Gandhian and socialist leader.

A family source said that the rite of Joshi would be performed at the Pashupati Aryaghat on Friday morning.

Nepali Congress chief secretary Krishna Prasad Poudel said that the party would bear the entire treatment costs of Joshi.