Biography of Mukhtar Ansari (1963-2024) : A Controversial Political Journey and Legacy
Who was Mukhtar Ansari?
Mukhtar Ansari, was an Indian politician, based in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He was born into an Influent family on June 30,1963. He was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Mau Constituency five times, including twice as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.
Background and family
Grandfather :- Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari was a former president of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League during the Independence Movement. His grandfather was a freedom fighter and his maternal grandfather was a brigadier – a recipient of Mahavir Chakra led Army to victory in Navshera in the 1947 war Ansari’s grandfather was one of the founders of Jamia Millia Islamia University.
Brother :- Afzal Ansari, is a Member of Parliament from Ghazipur constituency. He is a member of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Brother: Sibgatullah Ansari or Sibakatullah Ansari is a former MLA from Mohammadabad in Ghazipur district. He was an MLA from 2007 to 2017.
Wife: Afsha was involved in several crimes along with her husband. The Uttar Pradesh(U.P) Police last year in April declared a bounty of Rs 50,000 to Ansari’s wife Afsha.
Son: 24-year-old Umar Ansari is absconding as a court issued a non-bailable warrant against him in the hate speech case.
Son: Abbas Ansari in an MLA. He won from Mau seat on Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party’s ticket.
Early Life
Mukhtar Ansari was originally a member of the Makhanu Singh gang. In the 1980s, this gang clashed with another gang led by Sahib Singh over a plot of land in Saidpur Police Station of Ghazipur, resulting in a series of violent incidents.
In 1988, Mukhtar’s name came into the world of crime for the first time. Mukhtar’s name came up in the case of murder of local contractor Sachchidanand Rai regarding the contract of Mandi Parishad. Meanwhile, Tribhuvan Singh’s constable brother Rajendra Singh was murdered in Banaras. In this also Mukhtar’s name came up.
Political Career
Mukhtar Ansari, an Indian politician, gained notoriety in the early 1990s due to his alleged involvement in criminal activities, particularly in the districts of Mau, Ghazipur, Varanasi, and Jaunpur. Despite his controversial background, he ventured into politics around 1995 by joining a student union at Government PG College in Ghazipur.
In 1996, Mukhtar Ansari successfully entered formal politics by winning a seat in the Legislative Assembly (MLA) elections. has since been marked by both achievements and controversies. Throughout his political journey, Ansari faced several legal battles and allegations related to his alleged criminal connections, but he also received support from certain sections of the society.
As for Ansari, some see him as a symbol of muscle power in politics, while others see him as a representative of marginalized communities. His political career was full of turmoil, started challenging Brijesh Singh’s dominance. The two became the main gang rivals in the Poorvanchal region. Three of Ansari’s men were killed in the resulting shootout. Brijesh Singh was critically injured and presumed dead. Ansari became the undisputed gang leader in Poorvanchal.
Mukhtar Ansari’s involvement in politics, especially in the Ghazipur-Mau region, has indeed been characterized by his ability to garner support from certain sections of the Muslim community. His influence on the Muslim vote bank in the region has played an important role in achieving his election victory.
Attributing Ansari’s electoral success solely to the Muslim vote bank oversimplifies the complex dynamics of electoral politics in the region. Although Ansari may receive support from Muslims, his appeal likely extends beyond religious lines, to a variety of social, economic and political factors that resonate with voters.
Mukhtar Ansari was elected MLA from the Mau assembly constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh five times from 1996 to 2022, twice as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate, twice as an Independent and once as a Quami Ekta Dal nominee.
In 2022, Mukhtar Ansari passed on the baton to his elder son Abbas Ansari, who won from the same assembly seat as a candidate of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party in 2022, which was then in an alliance with the Samajwadi Party.
Crime of Mukhtar Anshari
Mukhtar Ansari’s crimes started in 1978 when he was 15 years old. Ansari had his first brush with the law when a case of criminal intimidation was registered against him at Saidpur police station in Ghazipur. By 1986, Mukhtar Ansari had become a personality in the contract mafia circle. In the same year, another case of murder was registered against him in Muhammad police station of Ghazipur.
Mukhtar Ansari became a gangster face of crime and 14 more cases were registered against him under serious charges.
Mukhtar Ansari had 28 criminal cases, including that of murder, and seven cases under the UP’s Gangster Act registered against him since 2005.
September 2022, he had been convicted in eight criminal cases and faced trial in 21 cases in various courts. Mukhtar Ansari was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of ₹2.02 lakh by the Varanasi MP/MLA earlier this month for fraudulently obtaining an arms license nearly 37 years ago. This was the eighth case in the last 1 year 6 months in which he was convicted by various courts of UP and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
In December 2023, an MP/MLA court in Varanasi sentenced Mukhtar Ansari to five years and six months imprisonment for not prosecuting the case related to the kidnapping and murder of coal trader Nand and threatening to kill Mahavir Prasad Rungta if he turned hostile, was heard.
On October 27, 2023, a Ghazipur MP/MLA court awarded Mukhtar Ansari 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a penalty of ₹5 lakh in a Gangster Act case lodged against him in 2010.
On June 5, 2023, an MP/MLA from Varanasi sentenced Mukhtar Ansari to life imprisonment in the case of murder of Ajay Rai’s elder brother Awadhesh Rai. On August 3, 1991, Awadhesh Rai was shot dead while his brother Ajay was standing outside their house in Varanasi’s Lahurabir area.
In 2005, the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Krishnanand Rai was murdered. On April 29, 2023, the Ghazipur MP/MLA court sentenced Ansari to 10 years imprisonment in this case.
In 2020, the Ansari gang was facing severe criticism from the Uttar Pradesh Police, which seized illegal assets worth ₹608 crore belonging to the gang.
Death of Mukhtar Ansari
Mukhtar Ansari was brought to the Rani Durgavati Medical College in the city from the district jail in “an unconscious state” after he had complained of vomiting. Mukhtar Ansari died of a heart attack on March 28, at the age of 60. An autopsy carried out by the panel of doctors from AIIMS Delhi over his body confirmed that Ansari died of a heart attack.
Source- Wikipedia, Times of India