Afzal Ansari hopes to return to becoming a politician in the near future

Five-time assembly member and two-time parliamentarian Afzal Ansari is optimistic that he will regain his position in the legislature after the Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the disqualification ruling imposed on him following his April 29, 2023, four-year prison sentence in a 2007 Gangster Act case.

“After learning of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the speaker of the Lok Sabha will probably have his disqualification lifted and be permitted to attend House sessions,” he said.

His position as a legislator has been restored according to the Supreme Court’s ruling, but there are certain restrictions. He may still attend House sessions but will not be allowed to vote or get benefits. His four-year jail term from the Ghazipur MP/MLA court resulted in his disqualification as a member of the Lok Sabha on May 1st of this year.

Afzal served as the Ghazipur Lok Sabha constituency MP for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

In a phone conversation, Ansari stated that the Allahabad High Court had previously granted his petition contesting the Ghazipur MP/MLA court’s ruling against his conviction and four-year prison sentence. The court had also granted him bail but had declined to revoke his disqualification. Subsequently, Ansari approached the Supreme Court.

Along with his younger brother, Mukhtar Ansari, a five-time member of the Mau assembly who has a criminal record of around 65 offenses lodged against him since 1978, Afzal was found guilty by the MP/MLA court. In the 2007 Gangster Act case against them related to the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai on November 29, 2005, and the abduction and assassination of BJP leader Kishore Rungta on January 22, 1997, Mukhtar was given a ten-year jail sentence. Mukhtar and his MP brother Afzal Ansari were found guilty in the case and given jail sentences of ten and four years, respectively. Mukhtar and Afzal were fined ₹5 lakh and ₹1 lakh, respectively, by the court.