Koirala, who was elected Prime Minister of Nepal on February 10, 2014, died at his residence in Maharajgunj in the outskirt of capital Kathmandu at 12.50 a.m. (local time), The Hindu reported quoting Nepali Congress General Secretary Prakash Man Singh.

He had returned from the U.S. after undergoing a successful treatment for the lung cancer and is credited with promulgating the new constitution of Nepal in September last year.

Koirala was suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and he has succumbed to the disease.

His body will be taken to party’s central office at sanepa, Kathmandu and kept there for last tributes from party cadres and others, Singh said.

Born in Banaras, India, Koirala entered politics in 1954 and was in political exile in India for 16 years following the royal takeover of 1960.

He also spent three years in Indian prisons for his involvement in a plane hijacking in 1973.

Koirala spent his life in politics fighting for democracy in Nepal and led protests in 2006 that ended a centuries—old monarchy system and turned Nepal into a republic.