Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday visited the family of deceased mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari at his ancestral house in Mohammadabad town of Ghazipur district and offered condolences. Praising the Ansari family for its contribution in India’s freedom struggle, Mr. Yadav questioned the circumstances under which the former five-time MLA died, and hoped truth would come out and the family would get justice.
“Mukhtar Ansari himself said he was being poisoned and that is what has come to light. We hope that the government will bring out the truth and the family will get justice. Ever since the BJP government has come to power, trust in institutions has decreased,” Mr. Yadav told reporters. He added, “Did Mukhtar Ansari’s grandfather not contributed to the country’s independence? Are the administration and the government not discriminating. Will we accept that it was a natural death?”
Mr. Yadav reiterated the statement of former Governor Satya Pal Malik, who dubbed the 2024 parliamentary polls as the last election to save democracy and the Constitution, alleging institutions in India were collapsing with the BJP dispensation in New Delhi. “Institutions are collapsing, whom should we trust. Reach out to the police. The police are not giving justice, the officers are not giving justice. A former Jammu and Kashmir Governor said this is the last election of democracy, save it with your vote,” he said.
Maintained distance
The SP president who maintained distance with the late Ansari and opposed alliance with his now-defunct Quami Ekta Dal before 2017 polls, hailed the former five-time MLA as someone who shared the pain of the common people evident from his repeated victory despite being lodged in jail. “If the people are electing a person even after he has been in jail for so many years, it means that the person lived among the people and shared their pain and sorrow,” said Mr. Yadav. The deceased’s elder brother and sitting Lok Sabha member from Ghazipur Afzal Ansari is the candidate of the SP from the seat in the 2024 parliamentary polls.
Mukhtar Ansari died of cardiac arrest on March 28 within hours after he was rushed to the Rani Durgawati Medical College in Banda district, as per the hospital’s health bulletin, while his family alleged of him being ‘poisoned’ in the Banda jail. Ansari faced more than five dozen cases and has been languishing in jail since 2005. Uttar Pradesh opposition leaders demanded high-level investigation into the death, with Mr. Yadav calling for a probe under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati pushed for a high-level probe.
