Lucknow: UP MLA Abbas Ansari, son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, has been disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly following his conviction in a hate speech case, official sources said on Sunday.
Representing the Mau assembly constituency as an SBSP MLA, Ansari was sentenced to two years in prison by a special MP-MLA court on Saturday. His seat has now been declared vacant, sources told PTI.
During the 2022 assembly elections, Ansari, then an SBSP candidate for the Mau Sadar seat, allegedly threatened the Mau administration in a public meeting at Paharpur ground on March 3, 2022, saying he would "settle scores and teach them a lesson" after the elections, according to the prosecution.
Defence lawyer Daroga Singh told PTI that Abbas Ansari was booked under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 189 (threat to public servants), 153-A (promoting enmity between groups), 171F (undue influence in elections), and 506 (criminal intimidation).
After hearing arguments from both sides, special MP/MLA court Judge K P Singh convicted Ansari on Saturday, sentencing him to two years each under sections 189 and 153-A, one year under section 506, and six months under section 171-F. The sentences will run concurrently, and Ansari has been fined Rs 2,000.
Under the Representation of the People Act, a member of the legislative house can be disqualified if sentenced to two years or more by a court.
Abbas Ansari was elected as an MLA for the first time in 2022, winning the Mau Sadar assembly seat on an SBSP ticket under the Samajwadi Party-led alliance.
Currently, the SBSP is an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition, with its party president serving as a cabinet minister in the state.
Before Abbas Ansari, his father, politician Mukhtar Ansari, held the Mau Sadar assembly seat for an extended period. Mukhtar Ansari, who had been incarcerated in Banda district jail, passed away due to cardiac arrest at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh in March 2024.
(inputs from PTI)