He recently launched a book of cartoons titled "No, Prime Minister", a set of cartoons on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Cartoonist Sudhir Tailang, who was suffering from a brain tumour, passed away on Saturday, at a private city hospital according to his family members. The artist was 55 and had been under treatment for over two years.

His family said that the cartoonist breathed his last at 12.30 p.m. and is to be cremated at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Lodhi Road crematorium.

Doctors at Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon where he died said: “Tailang was under treatment for the last two years. He was in hospital for more than a month and his family was told that chances of his recovery weren’t bright.''

He was suffering from GBM-4 stage brain tumour and had undergone two surgeries and chemotherapy during the course of his treatment over two years.

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004 for his contribution to the art of cartooning.

Born in Bikaner, Mr. Tailang came out with his first cartoon in 1970. He started his career with the Illustrated Weekly of India in Mumbai, in 1982. A year later, he joined the Navbharat Times in New Delhi. He had worked with all major English newspapers including the Hindustan Times, the Times of India and the Indian Express. His last assignment was with the Asian Age.

There was hardly any known personality in political world or other sphere of life who could escape his brush.

Mourning the loss of “a good adviser and well-wisher”, the Kerala Cartoon Academy said he represented the cartoon fraternity and floated top among Indian cartoonists with a different style.

(With inputs from IANS)