Jailed gangster Mukhtar Ansari on Thursday died after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was brought from Banda jail to the medical college for treatment in Banda after his health deteriorated. This is the second time within two days that he was taken to the hospital. Earlier, Ansari was on Tuesday hospitalised for around 14 hours in Uttar Pradesh's Banda after he complained of abdominal pain.
The gangster-turned-politician was once a heavyweight leader in the political circle in Uttar Pradesh. Ansari, 60, is a five-time former MLA from the Mau Sadar seat and has been behind bars in UP and Punjab since 2005.
Ansari, who started his political career in the early 1990s as a student union leader at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), entered the Uttar Pradesh Assembly for the first time in 1996 after winning the assembly election from Mau constituency on Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)'s ticket. He won the record five times the Mau seat from 1996 to 2022.
Mau home turf for Ansari
- First term from 1996 to 2002 on BSP ticket
- Second term from 2002 to 2007 on Congress ticket
- Third term from 2007 to 2012 on Congress ticket
- Fourth term from 2012 to 2017 on QED ticket
- Fifth term from 2017 to 2022 on BSP ticket
Ansari's party - Quami Ekta Dal
The gangster-turned-politician formed his party Quami Ekta Dal (QED) in 2010. Miffed with expel from BSP, he formed his party with the help of his brothers - Afzal, and Sibkatillah. Before QED, he had launched a political outfit called the Hindu Muslim Ekta Party, which later was merged with QED.
QED merged with SP
In 2016, Ansari merged his party with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi party.
Mayawati distanced from Ansari
Mayawati expelled Ansari in 2010 after he was charged under the MCOCA. Subsequently, the gangster-turned-politician decided to form his political outfit.
Also read: Mukhtar Ansari, jailed gangster-turned-politician, dies of cardiac arrest
