Virendra Pratap Shahi (15 August 1947 – 31 March 1997) was an Indian gangster turned politician from

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 served as the

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 the Lakshmipur Assembly constituency of

Career

He was elected MLA From June 1981 to March 1985 and again from March 1985 to November 1989. He was a notorious gangster in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, known for his involvement in the gang war between him and Hari Shankar Tiwari, another gangster-turned-politician. The two warlords were involved in approximately 50 murders, and their gang war became a folklore in the

Purvanchal Purvanchal () is the region of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Purvanchal is also a proposed state in India, encompassing 32 eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh. The proposal, introduced in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 2011 by then Chief ...

region, earning it the

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ) is a descriptive nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym in that it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need for explanation; it may beco ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

of the East and Slice of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. He was shot dead in 1997 by a gangster

Shri Prakash Shukla Shri Prakash Shukla (6 October, 1973-22 September, 1998) was an Indian gangster active during the 1990's mainly in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He used to be hired by primarily politicians to kill their opponents. He was killed on 22 September 1 ...

. He was known for his manipulative skills and his ability to win government contracts and influence people. In 1981, he contested the assembly (by-poll) elected from the Lakshmipur assembly constituency of

Maharajganj district Maharajganj district is one of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India, and the town of Maharajganj is the district headquarters. District is a part Gorakhpur division. It is located in Terai region of Himalayas, bordering Ne ...

as an Independent candidate and won the election against Amarmani Tripathi, a close aide of Hari Shankar Tiwari. The gang war between Shahi and Tiwari originated before the Emergency period. Tiwari was involved in student politics, while Shahi maintained close ties with Ram Kinkar Singh, a former MLA of Basti. He was living in Basti.

Death

On 31 March 1997, Shahi was shot and killed in Lucknow by

, a rising gangster who was seeking to establish his dominance over the underworld. After his death, Shahi's aides and supporters continued the battle, which led more killings and violence. Virendra Pratap Shahi had over 63 pending criminal charges, including several for murder. Initially, he was a member of the

Rashtriya Sanjay Manch Rashtriya Sanjay Manch (RSM) was a political party founded by Maneka Gandhi, the widow of Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi and estranged daughter-in-law of then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, on 3 April 1983. The party was established a ...

before later joining the

Janata Dal Janata Dal () was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha on 11 October 1988—the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Na ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahi, Virendra Pratap Indian gangsters People from Uttar Pradesh 1997 deaths Indian politicians assassinated in the 20th century Independent politicians in India 1990s in India Samajwadi Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh Janata Dal politicians