State minority welfare department minister Haji Hussain Ansari (70) died of cardiac arrest on Saturday hours after recovering from Covid-19, the first senior politician to pass away in the state since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Ansari, the JMM said, died at 3pm at Medanta Hospital at Irba on the outskirst of Ranchi where he was admitted about 10 days back after testing positive for Covid-19 in addition to age related ailments.

The Hemant government has declared two-day state mourning from Sunday, October 4. Monday has been declared a government holiday.

Offering his condolences, chief minister Hemant Soren said, “I lost a father like figure today. Haji sahib was a stalwart among leaders of the state and played a crucial role alongside my father and JMM chief Shibu Soren during the statehood movement.”

Ansari represented Madhupur constituency, part of Santhal Parganas. Although he began his political career with the Congress, he joined the JMM in the early 90s. Since then, he continued to be an integral part of the party winning from Madhupur four times since he first contested in 1995.

He was the first Muslim to become minister in Jharkhand after the formation of the state in 2000. State health secretary Nitin Kulkarni said, “The hospital informed us that he suffered a cardiac arrest. He was admitted there after testing positive for Covid-19. But last night (Friday) his report came negative.”

Ansari is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter, a JMM functionary said. Party general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharjee said his demise was a huge loss to the party. “He was a guiding light for the party and often lived low-profile. He nurtured several leaders under his tutelage who later went on to contribute for this state and for the cause of tribals,” he remarked.

Condolences poured in, cutting across the party lines. State health minister and Jamshedpur West MLA of Congress Banna Gupta said Ansari’s death was a great loss to Jharkhand politics. “If his popularity was beyond party lines, it was because of his simplicity. It’s a great loss to the state and its political discourse,” he said.

BJP legislature party leader and Dhanwar MLA Babulal Marnadi said he was at a loss for words. “My prayers to his family members in this hour of grief,” he added.

Former chief minister Raghubar Das said Ansari was always keen to serve his constituency more than anything else, which helped him emerge as a popular face from Santhal Pargana.