New Delhi, July 23 - Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) vice president Omkar Bhave died here Thursday after a long illness and was cremated in the presence of a large number of people including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani.

Bhave, 85, died at the VHP Headquarters in south Delhi at 11 a.m. soon after he was shifted from the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where he had been admitted June 27.

VHP leaders said Bhave was hospitalised following breathing problems and chest congestion. It was decided to shift him to the VHP office after his condition deteriorated and it became clear that he would not live long.

VHP leaders Acharya Giriraj Kishore and Ashok Singhal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief K.S. Sudarshan and BJP's Advani, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley were among those who attended his cremation.

Bhave had joined the RSS in 1938.