Mukhtar Ansari's Family Floundering In Eastern UP As Son Abbas May Lose MLA Seat Over Jail Term

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Mau MLA Abbas Ansari, son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in a 2022 hate speech case by a UP court on Saturday
Uttar Pradesh MLA Abbas Ansari was convicted and handed a two-year jail term on Saturday by the Mau district court in a 2022 hate speech case, which is likely to lead to his disqualification from the assembly. Ansari was also fined Rs 3,000 by the MP/MLA court.
Abbas, son of the notorious mafia-turned-politician, the late Mukhtar Ansari, is an MLA from the Mau Sadar assembly seat, representing the Suheldev Bahujan Samaj Party (SBSP) led by Om Prakash Rajbhar. The SBSP was in alliance with the Samajwadi Party during the 2022 assembly polls when Ansari made the controversial speech at a public rally in Mau on March 3, 2022.
Alluding to the SP-SBSP coming to power, he said, 'Once in power, we will settle scores with officials. Nobody will be transferred for the first six months of the new government. These officials will instead have to give an account of their actions up to now. Theek se hisab kitab kiya jayega." The remarks created controversy and were seen as threatening officials and inciting animosity among the public.
An FIR was lodged against Ansari and two others by the Mau police. The Election Commission of India also invoked a 24-hour campaign ban against Abbas Ansari.
With the MP/MLA court in Mau convicting him and announcing a two-year jail term, he faces the threat of losing his assembly membership.
According to Supreme Court directives, any MP or MLA convicted and sentenced to two or more years in prison is liable to lose the house membership immediately. They do, however, have recourse to appeal in a higher court.
After the Mau court order, the role of the assembly speaker becomes crucial. He will need to notify the disqualification of Abbas Ansari from the house. All eyes will now be on speaker Satish Mahana's office and how soon the notification is issued.
The SBSP, which Abbas Ansari represents, has shifted its allegiance towards the Bharatiya Janata Party since the 2022 assembly polls. While in alliance with the SP during the elections, it later joined the BJP government. SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar is a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government. The SBSP was quick to distance itself from the Abbas Ansari controversy.
The Ansari family, which had a deep influence on eastern Uttar Pradesh politics, now faces a precarious future. Abbas's father, Mukhtar Ansari, a five-term MLA from Mau, died while in prison in 2024, and the family's political clout has been waning since. However, Mukhtar's brother, Afzal Ansari, managed to win the Gazipur Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The government has cracked down on the criminal activities of Mukhtar Ansari's gang members. Mukhtar's wife, Afsha Ansari, has been declared a fugitive, and a reward of Rs 1 lakh is offered for any information leading to her arrest.
First Published:
May 31, 2025, 20:38 IST