Mukhtar Ansari’s brother loses MP seat after conviction in Gangsters Act case
Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s brother, Afzal Ansari, has been disqualified as an MP starting April 29, a notification by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said. His disqualification comes days after he was convicted in a 2007 case under the Gangsters Act and sentenced to four years in jail.
In 2007, a case was filed under the Gangsters Act against the Ansari brothers and in 2022 prima facie charges were framed against them. After hearing both sides, the court sentenced the brothers.
Afzal, a BSP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur parliamentary constituency, lost his Lok Sabha membership under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, which says that any member will be disqualified if convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more. Recently, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and BJP’s Vikram Saini lost their MP status under the provisions of the same Act.
Mukhtar Ansari, presently lodged in UP’s Banda jail, had been an MLA for five consecutive terms from the Mau Sadar assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh. The gangster-politician did not contest the 2022 assembly elections and his seat was won by his son, Abbas Ansari, from the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).
