To more than one celebrity attending a reception hosted by the Indian High Commissioner last evening, Lalit Suri extended an invitation for a night out in London. But he eventually went out alone, probably to a restaurant or a casino, collapsed and died, a day before his wedding anniversary.

Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, who is accompanying the Prime Minister on the UK tour, recalled being asked out by the hotelier-turned-MP but declined since he was feeling unwell. At 2.30 in the night, Kamal Nath says Lalit Suri’s wife Jyotsna called him to say her husband was dead despite efforts to revive him after a massive heart attack. Among the others who received a similar distress call from Jyotsna Suri was High Commissioner Kamlesh Sharma.

Suri was a member of the FICCI delegation which was in London to attend the Indo-UK business summit, the concluding session of which will be attended by PM Manmohan Singh and Tony Blair. Suri, who boasted he was the largest Indian hotel owner because of his majority holdings in his properties, had over the years acquired the image of being a multi-faceted personality.

He entered politics since he had a good equation with the Gandhi family through Sanjay Gandhi. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha first in 1992 and later in 2002.

The Brothers Suris (the once famous duo of Sagar and brother Lalit, they are now estranged) leapt into the spotlight in the ’70s under the patronage of Indira Gandhi and son Sanjay. Their penthouse in Sagar Apartments had the same potent pull as the luxe suites at Lalit’s Inter-Continental does today — it is the vortex of business and political intrigue and deals, friendships have been brokered and sealed, political allegiances made or snapped.

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