After the murder of Atiq Ahmed and his brother in Uttar Pradesh, Mukhtar Ansari has become the talk of the town. He is a gangster turned politician from Uttar Pradesh. The 59-year-old had been elected as an MLA from the Mau constituency five times. He has been in jail for more than 17 years.
However, he comes from a surprisingly distinguished family. His paternal grandfather Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari was the president of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1927. While his maternal grandfather Mohammad Usman was a Brigadier in the Indian Army. Not only this, former Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari is his uncle.
Mukhtar's father Subhanullah Ansari was active in politics in Ghazipur in UP with his clean image. Despite such background, Mukhtar Ansari became a gangster. Ansari was sent from Banda Jail in UP to Ropar Jail in Punjab for the hearing of a case. After this, he was there for a long time. Currently, he is in Banda jail.
Ansari faces as many as 49 criminal cases that have been booked against him and his aides on charges of land grabbing, murder and extortion. Mukhtar had surrendered before the Ghazipur police in connection with inciting riots in Mau.
And since then he is in jail. Born in Ghazipur, he was infamous for his alleged criminal activities, especially in the districts of Mau, Ghazipur, Varanasi and Jaunpur. He entered politics around 1995 and became an MLA in 1996. Since then, he had been elected an MLA 5 times from the Mau seat in UP. At present, his son Abbas Ansari is the MLA from the seat.
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