Last Updated: March 28, 2024, 23:05 IST
A convicted gangster and politician from Uttar Pradesh, Mukhtar Ansari had been elected as MLA from the Mau constituency five times. (Image: PTI File)
In April 2023, Mukhtar Ansari was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai by an MP MLA court
Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died after he suffered a heart attack in jail in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district on Thursday.
A convicted gangster and politician from Uttar Pradesh, 61-year-old Mukhtar Ansari had been elected as MLA from the Mau constituency five times, including twice as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate. He was the relative of former Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.
In April 2023, Mukhtar Ansari was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai by an MP MLA court. He was sentenced to life in prison on March 13, 2024, in connection with a fake arms license case.
Mukhtar Ansari’s Family History
Mukhtar Ansari never married and remained single all his life. Mukhtar Ansari’s paternal grandfather Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari was an early president of the Indian National Congress, while his maternal grandfather, Mohammad Usman was a Brigadier in the Indian Army.
Mukhtar Ansari’s Political Career and Rivalry With Brijesh Singh
Mukhtar Ansari’s early introduction to politics was in 1995 via student union at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He became an MLA for the first time in 1996.
After being elected to the Legislative Assembly, Mukhtar Ansari began challenging rival Brijesh Singh’s dominance in the Poorvanchal region. In 2002, Singh allegedly ambushed Ansari’s convoy. In the incident, three of Ansari’s men were killed and Brijesh Singh was critically injured and presumed dead.
Singh, however, was later found to be alive. The rivalry between the two leaders continued. Singh supported the election campaign of the BJP leader Krishnanand Rai, who defeated Mukhtar Ansari’s brother and five-time MLA Afzal Ansari from Mohammadabad in the 2002 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
