Jharkhand minority welfare minister Haji Hussein Ansari dies battling Covid-19
Born in Pipra village in Madhupur block of Deoghar district, Ansari started his political journey in late eighties with the Congress. Influenced by JMM chief Shibu Soren, he joined the regional party in the nineties when the Jharkhand movement was at its peak.
Jharkhand minority welfare minister and four-time JMM legislator from Madhupur, Haji Hussein Ansari died on Saturday afternoon fighting coronavirus in Medanta hospital in Ranchi.
The 73-year-old JMM leader, who had undergone open heart surgery about two years back, was admitted to Medanta on September 23 after he tested Covid-19 positive. He, however, tested negative on October 2 and was shifted to a non-Covid ICU of the hospital.
He passed away due to a cardiac arrest at about 3:50 pm on Saturday, confirmed health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni.
The body was handed over to the family maintaining Covid-19 protocols. His son Hafizul Hassan was present. Later, the family members took the body to his ancestral place in Madhupur for the last rites.
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren tweeted: “I am deeply hurt by the loss of my ministerial colleague Haji Hussein Ansari sahab ji. Haji sahab was in the forefront of the Jharkhand movement and played a great role in it. He was a simple person with strong determination. May the almighty give peace to the departed soul and strength to the family to withstand the loss.”
JMM president and Rajya Sabha member Shibu Soren said he was pained to hear the news. In his condolence message, Soren described Ansari as a truly popular leader who was available to all.
“He was my beloved companion. Ansari was a true leader, who was always alert on public issues and party organisation,” Shibu said adding that his death was an irreparable loss to the party.
Condolences poured in from leaders of different political parties as well. Among the prominent ones were state Congress president and minister Rameshwar Oraon, CPI (ML) state secretary Janardan Prasad, CPI (M) and CPI state committees.
Born in Pipra village in Madhupur block of Deoghar district, Ansari started his political journey in late eighties with the Congress. Influenced by JMM chief Shibu Soren, he joined the regional party in the nineties when the Jharkhand movement was at its peak. A close associate of Shibu Soren, he was one of the frontal leaders of the separate statehood struggle and spearheaded several agitations along with the JMM chief.
Later, Ansari got elected from the Madhupur assembly segment for the first time in 1995 in unified Bihar. He represented the assembly constituency four times in 1995, 2000, 2010 and 2019.
He was the leader of the opposition in Jharkhand in 2004 and also headed the state Haj committee as its chairman in the past.
