Nepali Congress leader and former minister Mohammad Aftab Alam has passed away. Alam, who had been admitted to Kathmandu Medical College in Sinamangal for a month, was being treated on a ventilator after his health condition deteriorated.

Alam was admitted before Dashain after health problems including high blood pressure and sugar were noticed. Alam was being treated on a ventilator after his health deteriorated further in the last one week. Outgoing Congress MP Dev Prasad Timalsina, close to Alam, confirmed that 63-year-old Alam died during treatment. ‘He had been very ill recently,’ he said, ‘He passed away today during treatment.’

According to Alam’s son Dr. Rajeek Alam, his father was treated at Medanta Hospital in New Delhi, India, a month and a half ago. ‘We brought him home after his health improved there. After some time, his health condition worsened,’ he said. 

Within a few days of his release from Nakkhu Jail on June 14, he was admitted to Annapurna Neuro Hospital in Maitighar after suffering a stroke. Alam, who was discharged after being kept in the ICU for more than a week, was taken to India for further treatment before Dashain, his son Dr. Rajeek informed. Alam was admitted to KMC Hospital after his old problems flared up. 

Former minister Alam, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Pintu alias Trilok Pratap Singh Rajput and OC Akhtar, a resident of Yamunamai Rural Municipality, who were injured in a bomb blast in Rajpur, Rautahat on the eve of the first Constituent Assembly election on Chaitra 10, 2001, by burning them in a brick kiln, was acquitted by the bench of Justices Khushi Prasad Tharu and Arjun Maharjan of the High Court, Janakpur, temporary bench, Birgunj, on 14th of Jestha, overturning the Rautahat verdict. 

Soon after that, he and his brother Mahtab Gaur were released from Nakkhu prison. Alam's brothers, Sheikh Saraj and Badri Sahni, have also been acquitted. Alam, who had been in prison for almost 6 years, suffered a stroke a few days after being released from Nakkhu. The then District Court Rautahat Judge Matrika Prasad Acharya had sentenced them to life imprisonment on 2081 Baisakh 14. 

The case of Mohammad Mobin, Sheikh Fazle, Sheikh Bhadai, Sahil Alam and Sheikh Jumai, who were said to be absconding in the incident, was ordered to be postponed. After the life imprisonment verdict, the Alam family had approached the Birgunj bench of the Janakpur High Court against the district's order. 

Alam had been winning elections continuously in Rautahat Constituency No. 2, which was depicted as a fertile land for politics by the then Congress leader Sheikh Idris. In the second Constituent Assembly election, he was defeated by his own nephew Mustaq Raja. In the 2074 parliamentary election, he took back the political legacy from his nephew Mustaq. He has represented the constituency 4 times. 

His father Mohammad Siddiqui Bedil and Majbu Nesa are deceased. Alam has two brothers. His younger brother is Mahtab Alam. Mahtab used to teach at the village's Janata Mavi. After resigning from his teaching position, Mahtab also entered politics. He contested for the district president of the Nepali Congress twice and lost. 

Alam has two sons and a daughter. The elder is Dr. Firdos and the younger is Dr. Rajik. Rajik is currently the mayor of Rajpur Municipality. Alam started politics from the Nepal Students' Union in 2036 BS. He entered politics with the inspiration of his uncle Sheikh Idris. 

Alam, who became the district president of the Nepali Students' Union in 2039 BS, became the acting president of the Rautahat branch of the Nepali Congress in 2044 BS. He spent some time in Gaur Jail during the Satyagraha movement in 2042 BS. He became the district president of the Nepali Congress in 2045 BS.  After the death of his uncle Sheikh Idris, Alam won the parliamentary election for the first time in the 2051 BS by-election.  

He became the Minister of State for Labor in the government led by the then Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa in 2054 BS. In 2055 BS, he became the Minister of State for Forests in the government led by the then Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala. Re-elected in the 2056 BS parliamentary election, he became the Minister of State for Local Development in the government led by Krishna Prasad Bhattarai.