New Delhi, Oct 9 (TIWN) President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation on Friday in paying tributes to Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who passed away last night, at the latter's residence here.

Senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Giriraj Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajnath Singh, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Ramdas Athavale and Jitendra Kumar also paid tributes to the departed leader.

Others who offered condolences and prayers at Paswan's residence included BJP MPs Pragya Thakur and Ramesh Bidhuri, NCP president Sharad Pawar, RJD MP Misa Bharti and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

Paswan, one of the most prominent Dalit leaders of the country who had been a part of several governments headed by rival parties, died on Thursday at the age of 74.

The Lok Janshakti Party founder and Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution was admitted to a private hospital here for several weeks and had recently undergone a heart operation.