Not ready to believe that the chief minister was no more, some of them requested the media not to air the news.

'I am sure he will come back,' said a woman.

Many of those who reached Gandhi Bhavan, the chief minister's camp office and state secretariat were poor people, who had benefited by the various schemes launched by the chief minister during the last five years.

This is the first time in the state's history that a chief minister has died in an accident while in office.

In some places, Congress workers pitched black flags to mourn the death of their leader.