Asaduddin Owaisi claims Mukhtar Ansari was poisoned by BJP, calls him ‘martyr’

Asaduddin Owaisi, head of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) referred to the late mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari as "a martyr." Last month, Ansari passed away in Uttar Pradesh's Banda prison after cardiac arrest.

Owaisi was addressing a rally in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, when he said that Ansari was poisoned when the BJP government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was expected to protectthe politician.

"Mukhtar Ansari was in judicial custody, and he was killed by giving poison. He is a martyr; don’t call him dead. It was the responsibility of the BJP govt to protect him,” Owaisi said as quoted by Times of India.

The AIMIM leader also brought up the assassination of another former gangster-turned-politician, Atiq Ahmad, and his brother Ashraf. Last year in April, they were gunned down by three individuals disguised as journalists while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj.

"It was the responsibility of the BJP government to save these people, but it failed. Nature gets angry with the one who commits atrocities,” he said.

"I want to tell PM Modi and Akhilesh Yadav that PDM will not be limited to the limits of Parliament only. This will be the beginning of PDM in the coming Parliament and also in the legislative assembly elections," he added.

Owaisi took aimsat both the BJP and Akhilesh Yadav's SP, emphasising that Varanasi's identity isn't solely tied to PM Modi, but also to luminaries like Ustad Bismillah Khan, Tulsidas, and the syncretic Ganga-Jamuni culture.

Contrary to Owaisi's assertion, Ansari's postmortem report said that the cause of death was "myocardial infarction" or heart attack. No poison was found in Ansari's viscera. However, Ansari's family maintained that he was slowly poisoned in jail.

"We have got the Forensic Science Lab report that has confirmed that no traces of poison were found in the viscera. This has been given to the probe panel led by Banda Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate," a senior officer had told PTI.

(With inputs from agencies)