Patna, BIHAR :
Patna:
Former Bihar Minister and senior Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Shahid Ali Khan died of a massive heart attack on Thursday during his visit to Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan where the 54-year old politician had gone to pay a visit to the tomb of Khwaza Moinuddin Chishti.
Party spokesperson Danish Rizwan informed the press in Patna about the sudden passing away of Khan’s death.
Khan was elected to the state Assembly for the first time in 1990 from Sitamarhi on Janata Dal ticket, the forebearer of the current Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). At the time, he was the youngest person ever to be elected to the Bihar Assembly.
He was re-elected from the same constituency in 2000 under the RJD ticket and won twice as a Nitish-led Janata Dal – U candidate in 2005 and 2010 from Pupari and Sursand constituency. He held different portfolio under Nitish administration that included the Minority Welfare, IT, and Law departments.
He later resigned from the JD-U and joined hands with former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi pledging allegiance to the HAM.
Khan leaves behind his wife and three daughters along with other family members.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, HAM President Jitan Ram Manjhi, former ministers Brishan Patel, Mahachandra Prasad, and JD-U state President Vashisht Narayan Singh were among many who expressed their condolences to the grieving members of the family calling it a huge loss for the state.
Khan had hit the headlines in 2014 when rumor of his alleged links with Indian Mujahideen terrorist outfit led to an investigation against him. He later, repeating a famous line from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s film ‘My Name is Khan’, said “I am Shahid Ali Khan and I am not a terrorist” in the state Assembly.
The so-called investigation did not go anywhere as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, at the time, called it a conspiracy by the ‘communal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’ to malign a member of the minority community and a minister in the Nitish government.
The Chief Minister has announced a state funeral for the former minister.
source: http://www.patnadaily.com / Patna Daily / Home> News / January 04th, 2018