Afzal Ansari (born 14 August 1953) is an Indian politician of the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

and currently an incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) of India for Ghazipur constituency,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. He has been MLA for five consecutive term and MP for three.

Early life

Afzal Ansari was born in Yusufpur– Mohammadabad town in

Ghazipur Ghazipur, is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ghazipur city is the administrative headquarters of the Ghazipur district, one of the four districts that form the Varanasi division of Uttar Pradesh. It is located on the Ganges (Ganga) ...

district,

to Subhanullah Ansari and Begum Rabia. He received his school education. For higher studies, he enrolled in the local post-graduate college and completed Post Graduation from the University of Gorakhpur.

Family

Afzal Ansari's father Subhanullah Ansari was the chairman of Nagar Palika Parishad, Mohammadabad, and was elected unopposed. His grandfather Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari served as the president (1926–1927) of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

, as well as the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC), and was one of the founders of the

Jamia Millia Islamia Jamia Millia Islamia is a Public university, public and research university located in Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) during the British R ...

, New Delhi. Former

Vice President of India The vice president of India (ISO: ) is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in t ...

Mohammad Hamid Ansari is Afzal Ansari's cousin. Afzal Ansari is married to Farhat Ansari since 26 October 1991 and the couple have 3 daughters. Ansari's elder brother Sibgatullah Ansari and his younger brother Mukhtar Ansari both were involved in politics and became MLA's in different constituencies.

Political career

Member of Legislative Assembly

Ansari started his political career with the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

. He contested

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, also known as Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Indian state Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house. Member of the Legislative Assembl ...

election in 1985 for the first time and defeated Abhay Narayan Rai from

with a margin of 3,064 votes. From 1985 to 2002, Ansari served five terms as

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

for Mohammadabad Assembly constituency.

Member of Parliament

Afzal Ansari contested the 2004

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

general election on the

ticket and defeated Manoj Sinha of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

with a margin of 226,777 votes. He contested the 2009 general election on the

(SP) ticket for Ghazipur but lost to the

Bhartiya Janta Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

's Radhe Mohan Singh. After some political differences, Ansari left the Samajwadi Party and founded a new political party called Quami Ekta Dal and served as its Secretary-General before merging it with Samajwadi Party. Ansari rejoined the SP in 2019 and contested the general election in

; he won the seat, becoming the

17th Lok Sabha The 17th Lok Sabha was formed by the members elected in the 2019 Indian general election. Elections, all across India, were conducted in seven phases from 11 April 2019 to 19 May 2019 by the Election Commission of India. Counting started offici ...

member from Ghazipur. On 1 May 2023, Ansari was disqualified as a Member of Parliament following being given a 4 year jail sentence. His suspension was revoked on 15 December 2023 by the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

Positions held

Afzal Ansari has been elected 5 times as MLA and 3 times as

MP.

Criminal cases

After inaugurating a cricket tournament in 2005, MLA Krishnanand Rai's cavalcade was ambushed while he was returning home. Krishnanand Rai and six of his aides were killed by AK-47 bullet fires. Both Ansari ( Mukhtar Ansari and Afzal Ansari) brothers were booked under Gangster act in connection with murder of BJP legislator Krishnanand Rai in November 2005 and kidnapping-murder of trader from Varanasi in 1997. On 1 May 2023, Ansari was disqualified as a Member of Parliament following being given a 4-year jail sentence. His suspension was revoked on 15 December 2023 by the

Notes

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansari, Afajal 1953 births Living people Politicians from Ghazipur India MPs 2004–2009 Samajwadi Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Communist Party of India politicians from Uttar Pradesh Bahujan Samaj Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh Quami Ekta Dal politicians Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1985–1989 India MPs 2019–2024 India MPs 2024–2029 Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance candidates in 2024 Indian general election Indian politicians disqualified from office Indian politicians convicted of crimes Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1989–1991 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1991–1993 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1993–1996 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1997–2002