News Analysis India

Tag: Mukhtar Ansari

  • Mayawati says BSP won’t field ‘bahubali’, mafia candidates; no Mukhtar Ansari from Mau Assembly

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The BSP will make efforts to not field ‘bahubali’ (strongmen) or mafia candidates in next year’s Uttar Pradesh polls, party supremo Mayawati said Friday, announcing that jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari will not be given a party ticket from Mau again.

    She said BSP state president Bhim Rajbhar will contest from Mau seat, currently represented by Mukhtar Ansari who is lodged in a jail in Banda, with several criminal cases pending against him.

    Mayawati’s announcement comes days after Mukhtar Ansari’s brother Sigbatullah Ansari joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party.

    ​ALSO READ | No more monuments to build, will focus on governance if elected to power: Mayawati

    “In upcoming assembly polls, the BSP’s effort will be to not field ‘bahubali’ and mafia elements. So, the name of Bhim Rajbhar, the BSP UP president, has been finalised from the Mau assembly seat in place of Mukhtar Ansari,” she said in a tweet in Hindi.

    Mukhtar’s another brother, Afzal Ansari, is a BSP MP who represents the Ghazipur seat.

    He had defeated the BJP’s Manoj Sinha, who is now the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

    ​ALSO READ | 2022 UP polls: Mayawati assures Brahmins a due place of pride in social strata

    Mayawati said the decision to not field criminal and mafia elements has been taken to meet people’s expectation as she appealed to party leaders to keep this in mind while choosing candidates.

    “So that there is no problem in taking strict action against such elements once the government is formed.”

    She added, “Alongside ensuring ‘a rule of law, by law’, the BSP’s resolve is to also change Uttar Pradesh’s image now.”

    She said the BSP’s should be known as the government that follows the philosophy of ‘Sarvajan Hitay and Sarvajan Sukhay’ (universal good).

  • ‘No ticket for bahubali or mafia’: Mayawati dumps Mukhtar Ansari ahead of UP polls

    By Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: BSP chief Mayawati on Friday announced that her party will not field any bahubali (strongman) or mafia, including Ansari in the crucial 2022 assembly polls in the state.

    While denying the party ticket to Mau MLA Mukhtar Ansari, the former CM announced that the BSP will strive not to field any bahubali (strongman) or mafia in the coming assembly polls. “In line with this decision only, it has been decided not to field Mukhtar Ansari from the Mau seat of Azamgarh division. Instead, the state party president Bhim Rajbhar will be fielded from the Mau seat,” Mayawati tweeted.

    Interestingly, in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, when the BSP had fielded Mukhtar Ansari against BJP stalwart Dr Murli Manohar Joshi from the Varanasi seat, the then UP CM Mayawati had reportedly likened the same gangster-turned-politician to Robin Hood.

    While addressing an election rally at Varanasi’s Benia Bag ground in support of Ansari (who is now lodged at Banda Jail in UP) in April 2009, the BSP chief had likened Ansari to Robin Hood. Describing Ansari as innocent, Mayawati had said that a man who fights those who harass poor people cannot be termed as a criminal just by implicating him in false cases.

    Both Mukhtar Ansari and his elder sibling Afzal Ansari, who had contested the 2009 LS polls on BSP tickets from East UP’s Varanasi and Ghazipur seats respectively, however, had failed to win.

    ​ALSO READ | No more monuments to build, will focus on governance if elected to power: Mayawati

    “After the decision of not fielding strongmen-mafia and those with criminal background in 2022 polls, I appeal party’s local in-charges across the state to keep in mind this important aspect while selecting candidates for next year’s polls, to ensure that once in power, the party’s government doesn’t face any problem in acting against such shady elements,” Mayawati tweeted further.

    Importantly, Mukhtar Ansari won five consecutive assembly polls from the Mau seat of Mau district since 1996. His first win from the East UP seat in 1996 was on a BSP ticket only. In 2009, he unsuccessfully contested the LS polls from Varanasi, but just a year later, both Ansari siblings Mukhtar and Afzal were expelled from the BSP.

    Seven years later, Mayawati had inducted Mukhtar and brother Afzal again in the BSP. While Mukhtar won from Mau assembly seat in 2017 UP Assembly polls, again as BSP candidate (despite a strong BJP wave), his elder brother won from Ghazipur Lok Sabha seat two years later as BSP nominee, defeating ex-union minister and sitting BJP Manoj Sinha (presently the J&K Lt. Governor) in 2019 general elections with SP support.

    Just two weeks back, the eldest among the Ansari brothers, ex-MLA Sibgatullah Ansari had joined the Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party in Lucknow, dropping clear indications of the power Ansari family distancing away from BSP ahead of 2022 polls in UP.

    ​ALSO READ | 2022 UP polls: Mayawati assures Brahmins a due place of pride in social strata

    AIMIM warms up to Mukhtar Ansari, offers him party ticket

    Meanwhile, in a related development on Friday, the AIMIM spokesperson Syed Asim Waqar, while maintaining that the party’s doors are open for Ansari, offered to field him by the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party in the Assembly polls.

    “If Ansari wants to contest the election, the doors of AIMIM are open for him. We will give him a ticket and ensure his victory also,” Waqar said. He asked other Muslims also not to “purchase tickets” from any other political party as they will ensure their defeat even after taking money from them.

    “Votes of their communities (other parties) do not transfer to Muslims. I ask Muslims who want to contest elections to come and join AIMIM. The party will give them tickets,” he said.

    Just three days back, another jailed gangster and ex-UP MLA and MP Atiq Ahmad and wife had joined the AIMIM in presence of the party’s chief Asaduddin Owaisi. While Ahmad’s wife Shaista Praveen joined the AIMIM at a press conference, he joined the new party in absentia.

  • SC refuses to interfere, declines to pass order over Mukhtar Ansari’s wife plea seeking his safety in jail

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: In a major setback to Mau MLA Mukhtar Ansari, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere and declined to pass any order on the petition filed by Ansari’s wife Afshan Ansari seeking safety for her husband while he is being shifted to Banda district jail in Uttar Pradesh from Punjab’s Rupnagar jail for the trial in pending cases in the state.

    Earlier on Thursday, The gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar’s wife Afshan and son Umar Ansari have filed an application in the Special Court in Prayagraj stating that Mukhtar’s life is in danger inside the jail.

    The application states, “CCTV cameras have been installed inside and outside the barracks and even in the bathroom, which is causing problems for him. No health check-up is being done by the medical team on a regular basis that was constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court after being shifted from Ropar district of Punjab to Banda jail.”

    In the application, the wife and the son of Ansari requested the authorities to look into the matter.

    Earlier, on June 30, Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force arrested the driver of BSP leader Mukhtar Ansari’s ambulance, Salim, from the Jankipuram area that will help in facilitating the investigation going on against Ansari’s ongoing cases. In the interrogation by the STF team, Salim revealed his closeness to Mukhtar and also admitted to being a part of his gang for a long time.

    As of April 12, according to the police, around 52 cases are registered on various issues against Ansari in Uttar Pradesh and other states. He was transferred to a jail in Uttar Pradesh on April 7.

    On April 27, gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who was recently shifted from a Punjab Jail to a highly-secured isolation barrack in the District Jail in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda, had tested positive for COVID-19 BSP leader Mukhtar Ansari’s wife Afshan Ansari and son Umar Ansari have filed an application in the Special Court in Prayagraj stating that Mukhtar’s life is in danger inside the jail. (ANI)

  • Mukhtar Ansari’s life is in danger in prison, claims plea filed by family in Prayagraj Court

    By ANI

    PRAYAGRAJ: BSP leader Mukhtar Ansari’s wife Afshan Ansari and son Umar Ansari have filed an application in the Special Court in Prayagraj stating that Mukhtar’s life is in danger inside the jail.

    The application states, “CCTV cameras have been installed inside and outside the barracks and even in the bathroom, which is causing problems for him. No health check-up is being done by the medical team on a regular basis that was constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court after being shifted from Ropar district of Punjab to Banda jail.”

    In the application, the wife and the son of Ansari requested the authorities to look into the matter.

    Earlier, on June 30, Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force arrested the driver of BSP leader Mukhtar Ansari’s ambulance, Salim, from the Jankipuram area that will help in facilitating the investigation going on against Ansari’s ongoing cases. In the interrogation by the STF team, Salim revealed his closeness to Mukhtar and also admitted to being a part of his gang for a long time.

    As of April 12, according to the police, around 52 cases are registered on various issues against Ansari in Uttar Pradesh and other states. He was transferred to a jail in Uttar Pradesh on April 7.

    On April 27, gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who was recently shifted from a Punjab Jail to a highly-secured isolation barrack in the District Jail in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda, had tested positive for COVID-19.

  • Ahead of UP polls, ex-legislatures Ambika Chaudhary, Sibghatullah Ansari join Samajwadi Party

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s brother and former BSP MLA Sibghatullah Ansari joined the Samajwadi Party along with his supporters here on Saturday, ahead of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh slated for early next year.

    Former minister Ambika Chaudhary who had quit the SP to join the BSP also returned to the Samajwadi Party along with his supporters.

    Welcoming the leaders to the party, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav expressed confidence that they would give further strength to the party and also send a message among the people that it will form government in the state after the polls.

    Attacking the ruling BJP, Yadav alleged that the youth did not get jobs and traders were ruined under its government.

    He also alleged that the BJP government left the poor helpless during the coronavirus crisis when they needed its support the most.

    “I am happy that the people of Uttar Pradesh want change and are eager to walk on the path of development and prosperity,” Yadav said.

    In a tweet earlier, Yadav announced that his Samajwadi Party will organise ‘Khiladi Ghera’ demonstrations across the state on the occasion of National Sports Day on Sunday.

    He appealed to sportspersons to join the protests and “shake the foundation of irresponsible power”.

    Ambika Chaudhary, who had served as minister in the governments led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, had quit the SP in 2016.

    He had unsuccessfully contested the 2017 assembly election on a BSP ticket.

    In the recent zila panchayat chairperson election, the Samajwadi Party fielded his son as its candidate.

    After the election of his son to the post of zila panchayat chairman, there were indications that Ambika Chaudhary would return to the SP.

    Ambika Chaudhary became emotional and cried as he was welcomed to the SP by Akhilesh Yadav.

    Sibghatullah Ansari had won the 2007 assembly election from Mohammadabad constituency of Ghazipur district on a Samajwadi Party ticket and again contested and won from the seat in 2012 on a ticket of his brothers’ party Quami Ekta Dal.

    In 2017, he joined the BSP and unsuccessfully contested the election.

    Asked if his brother Afzal Ansari who is the BSP MP from Ghazipur would also join the SP, Sibghatullah Ansari said it was for his brother to decide.

  • Akhilesh inducts Mukhtar Ansari’s brother, nephew into Samajwadi Party

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday inducted mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s brother Sigbatullah Ansari, his nephew Munna Ansari and former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Ambika Chaudhary into the party.

    Mukhtar Ansari, the five-time MLA from Mau constituency, belongs to Ghazipur district in eastern UP. He is a history-sheeter at Mohammadabad police station with 52 cases pertaining to murder kidnapping, extortion registered in his name. His brother Afzal Ansari is MP for Ghazipur, while Sigbatullah Ansari is a former MLA from Mohammadamad.

    All three Ansari brothers — were expelled from the BSP in 2010 for criminal activities. They went on to float their own party, the Quami Ekta Dal (QED), which later merged with the Mayawati’s BSP in March 2017 ahead of the UP assembly election.

    Before the merger with the BSP, the Ansari brothers had tied up with the Samajwadi Party in the presence of Akhilesh’s estranged uncle and the then party state president Shivpal Singh Yadav with the consent of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

    ALSO READ | Mukhtar Ansari tells UP court Rs 5-lakh contract given to kill him inside jail

    At that time, Akhilesh took a high moral ground and vehemently opposed the induction of the Ansari brothers into the party owing to their alleged tainted image.

    Akhilesh, then as CM, had put his foot down and the party had to call off the merger of Ansari brothers’ QED within three days of its merger with SP in June 2016.

    “A lot of water has flown down the Gomti since 2016. With the political compulsions and the desperation to ride back to power in 2022 assembly elections, the SP chief left his ideals and has inducted the Ansaris into the party,” JP Shukla, a political commentator.

    On Friday, at his ancestral village Safai, the SP chief had made the ground for Ansari’s joining by saying that his party was ready to tie up with anyone believing in the “Samajwadi” ideology.

    On the other, Ambika Chaudhary, a former Samajwadi Party leader and a close aide of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, rejoined the party on Saturday.

    Chaudhary, before quitting SP, had switched over to Mayawati-led BSP in 2017 just ahead of assembly elections. Chaudhury had quit the SP after getting miffed with to the removal of Mulayam Singh Yadav from the party president’s post by Akhilesh.

    However, after losing the election on a BSP ticket from the Fefna constituency in 2017, Chaudhary resigned from the BSP in June this year.

    While inducting him on Saturday, Akhilesh Yadav said he was willing to bring his father’s close allies back to the SP ahead of next year’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

    “Ambika ji was very emotional today, so much so that he was unable to say what he wanted to. I can only imagine how much trouble and pain those people would have faced who left the party,” he said.

  • Mukhtar Ansari tells UP court Rs 5-lakh contract given to kill him inside jail

    By PTI

    BARABANKI: Jailed BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari told a court here on Monday that a contract of Rs 5 lakh has been given for his killing inside the jail and that unauthorised people entered the prison without making any entry in the register, according to his lawyer.

    Ansari, who is lodged in the Banda jail, was produced virtually before Maushmi Madhesi, a judge in the special court for cases involving MPs and MLAs here in Uttar Pradesh, in a case of forgery and cheating.

    The forgery and cheating case against Ansari was registered after it was found that a bulletproof ambulance with a Barabanki registration number was used to ferry him from Ropar jail to a Mohali court in Punjab in an extortion case.

    According to his lawyer Randhir Singh Suman, Ansari told the judge that a contract of Rs 5 crore has been given for killing him inside the jail.

    Ansari also alleged that some suspicious persons entered the jail without making any entry in the register and that the directions of CCTV cameras were changed to facilitate their visits.

    Ansari requested the court to order a probe into the matter.

    The court has fixed the next date of the hearing in the case on August 27.

    After having been brought from the Ropar jail in Punjab recently, Ansari has been lodged in the Banda jail as an undertrial in a slew of criminal cases.

  • Jailed BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari pleads for TV in jail

    By PTI
    BARABANKI: Jailed BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari, arrested for his alleged complicity in a slew of criminal cases, on Monday pleaded to a Barabanki court to provide for television in his prison’s barrack.

    Ansari made the plea during his appearance before Barabanki Chief Judicial Magistrate Rakesh through video conference for the extension of his judicial custody in a forgery case.

    The forgery case related to the registration of a bulletproof ambulance that Ansari allegedly used for moving between the Ropar jail in Punjab and various court in the state.

    ALSO READ | Properties worth Rs 24 crore of BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari’s sons’ attached: Police

    Ansari’s counsel Randheer Singh Suman said his client told the court the government has made provisions for television in jail barracks across the state to facilitate prison inmates see news and entertainment programmes.

    But the Uttar Pradesh government is giving step-motherly treatment to Ansari, depriving him of a basic civic amenity in the jail, his counsel alleged.

    The court, meanwhile, extended Ansari’s judicial custody till July 5 in the case of the fraudulent registration of the ambulance.

    Ansari also pleaded to the court to direct the Banda jail to provide for his physiotherapy every day in the prison to keep at bay his orthopaedic problems.

    He said despite his repeated requests, the Banda Jail Authority has deprived him of this essential medical aide.

    After having been brought from the Ropar jail in Punjab, Ansari was lodged in UP’s Banda jail as an undertrial in a slew of criminal cases.

  • Uttar Pradesh govt suspends transport officer in Mukhtar Ansari ambulance case

    By PTI
    BALLIA: Former assistant regional transport officer of Barabanki has been suspended in connection with using fake documents of ambulance to ferry gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari from a Punjab jail to a Mohali court in March this year.

    Additional District Magistrate Ram Asrey confirmed the development.

    Rajeshwar Yadav, the then Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) of Barabanki, has been suspended in connection with the fake ambulance papers case, sources in the transport office said on Thursday.

    Yadav is currently posted at the Regional Transport Office (RTO), Ballia.

    A special investigation team (SIT) was set up by the Uttar Pradesh Police to probe the case.

    On April 2, a case was registered in Barabanki after the documents of the ambulance bearing UP registration number were found to be fake.

    Ansari, the BSP MLA from Mau, wanted in Uttar Pradesh for various cases, was on March 31 produced before the Mohali court in connection with an alleged 2019 extortion matter.

    After an initial probe, the name and address given for the registration of the ambulance were found to be false.

  • Properties worth Rs 24 crore of BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari’s sons’ attached: Police

    The sources said Mukhtar #39;s property worth over Rs 50 crore has been attached so far.