Kolkata, Nov 25 (TIWN / IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday condoled the demise of former Union Minister and veteran Congress leader C.K. Jaffer Sharief, who passed away in Bengaluru on Sunday.

"Saddened at the passing away of very senior politician and former Union Minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief. He had a special affection for me. Met him in my first term as MP. My condolences to his family and his many admirers," Banerjee wrote on Twitter.

Sharief, who was admitted to Bengaluru's Fortis Hospital last Friday after collapsing at his residence, passed away at around 12.30 p.m. on Sunday, hospital authorities said.

He was 85 and had been suffering from age-related ailments for some time.

A parliamentarian from Bengaluru North and Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituencies, Sharief was the Union Railway Minister during 1991-1995 under the P.V. Narasimha Rao-led Congress government.