Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died of a cardiac arrest at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh late last evening.

Ansari was rushed to the hospital in Banda after he fell unconscious in the district jail at around 8.45 pm. He died at the Rani Durgavati Medical College during the treatment after suffering a cardiac arrest.

The family of Mukhtar Ansari – who had been in jail in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh since 2005 – has alleged that he was poisoned in the prison.

“Mukhtar said that he was given a poisonous substance in his food in jail. This happened for the second time. He was given poison around 40 days ago as well. And, recently, on March 19, he was again given this (poison) due to which his condition was bad,” his brother Afzal Ansari had been quoted as saying by PTI.

Mukhtar Ansari’s son Umar also alleged that his father was given poison in the food and said he would approach the court. “We said this before also and even today we will say the same thing. On March 19, he was poisoned in the dinner. We will move to the judiciary, we have full faith in it…,” he said.

Security was stepped up outside the hospital after his death, and prohibitory orders were imposed across the state to maintain law and order. 

Officials said there was special deployment of forces in Banda, Mau, Ghazipur and Varanasi districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh as well, where Ansari wields influence allegedly through a criminal syndicate.

Ansari’s autopsy will be conducted today at Banda Medical College Hospital.

Ansari had also been hospitalised in the early hours of Tuesday and discharged after nearly 14 hours. The prison department had said that Ansari’s health had deteriorated because he was fasting during Ramadan and he had fallen in the washroom.

Ansari, the five-time former MLA from Mau, had 61 criminal cases against him, of which 15 were on murder charges. 

He had joined a gang in the 1980s and then formed his own in the 1990s. The gang was involved in extortion and kidnapping in the Mau, Ghazipur, Varanasi and Jaunpur districts.

Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge issued a strong rebuttal this evening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment that to “browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture”. In a statement that started with a mild “it is not proper form for the PM to comment on our judiciary”, the Congress chief went on to ask four pointed questions and accused the Prime Minister of being “personally responsible” for “usurping” the powers of institutions and “weakening our country”.

What drew the Congress chief’s rejoinder was a blistering post by PM Modi earlier today after 600 lawyers wrote to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, alleging attempts by “a vested interest group” to undermine the judiciary’s integrity and defame courts.

“To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture. Five decades ago, they itself had called for a ‘committed judiciary’ – they shamelessly want commitment from others for their selfish interests, but desist from any commitment towards the nation,” PM Modi said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Later in the evening, the Congress chief, in his statement posted on X, said, “As you consider India’s institutions to be your personal property, I have some questions for you”.

PM @narendramodi ji,

You are talking about Judiciary.

1. You conveniently forget that 4 senior-most Supreme Court judges were forced to hold an unprecedented press conference and warn against “destruction of Democracy”. That happened under your regime.

One of the judges was…

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 28, 2024

The first question pertained to an unprecedented press conference in January 2018 by four judges of the Supreme Court, who went public with their complaints against the then Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra. An independent judiciary is essential for a functioning democracy, the judges had said.

“Why was one of the judges nominated by your Govt to the Rajya Sabha?” Mr Kharge asked next, refering to the unprecedented Upper House nomination of former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in 2020. The recommendation by then President of India Ram Nath Kovind is unprecedented – till then, no Chief Justice had been nominated to the Upper House by the head of the state.

“Why has your party fielded a former high court judge from West Bengal for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections?” Mr Kharge has also asked, referring to the former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijeet Gangopadhyay, whose move into electoral politics has raised eyebrows.

Mr Kharge also questioned why the government brought the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) that was struck down by the Supreme Court. The Congress, though, had supported the constitutional amendment bill in parliament.

The letter by over 600 lawyers, including veteran advocate Harish Salve and Bar Council chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, alleged that a vested interest group is putting pressure on the judiciary, especially in cases of corruption involving political leaders.

The letter also targeted a section of lawyers without naming them and alleged that they defend politicians by day and then try to influence judges through the media at night.

Refering to the letter, Union minister Kiren Rijiju posted on X that “sane voices” are coming out now. “These Congress people coined the concept of committed judiciary and suspended Indian Constitution. The Congress and leftists want courts and constitutional authorities to serve them or else they immediately start attacking the very institutions,” his post read.

The Income Tax department serves the Congress party a notice of approximately Rs 1,700 crore covering assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21. Congress faces financial strain with penalties and interest, challenging the move as undemocratic. Tax department recovers Rs 135 crore from Delhi bank accounts, intensifying pressure on the main opposition party.