Senior Congress MP and Islamic scholar Mohammad Asrarul Haque Qasmi died of a heart attack on Friday morning at his home in Bihar’s Kishanganj district, PTI reported. He was 76.
Qasmi, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and a former state president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, won the Kishanganj seat for the first time in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. He then retained the seat five years later, beating the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Dilip Kumar Jaiswal by more than one lakh votes, IANS reported.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar condoled his death. “Qasmi was known for probity in politics and his simplicity of heart,” Kumar said. “He was deeply interested in social work and enjoyed immense popularity in his constituency.” Kumar said that Qasmi’s last rites would be performed with full state honours.
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad said that with Qasmi’s death, the state lost an able and dedicated MP.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi and party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Randeep Singh Surjewala also expressed their condolences.
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