Abbas Ansari disqualified over hate speech

Abbas Ansari, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) MLA from Mau Sadar, has been disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly following his conviction in a 2022 hate speech case. A special MP-MLA court sentenced him to two years imprisonment on Saturday.

Ansari, son of deceased gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was found guilty of threatening the Mau administration during an election rally on March 3, 2022. He had warned officials that he would “settle scores” after the elections. The court convicted him under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code: 189 (threat to public servant), 153-A (promoting enmity), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 171F (undue influence during elections). Sentences under these sections – two years, two years, one year, and six months respectively – will run concurrently. He has also been fined ₹2,000.

As per the Representation of the People Act, any MLA sentenced to two years or more is automatically disqualified. Official sources confirmed the Mau Assembly seat has now been declared vacant. Ansari had won his first Assembly election in 2022 on an SBSP ticket under the Samajwadi Party-led alliance. Ironically, SBSP is currently an ally of the BJP-led government, with its president serving as a Cabinet Minister.

His father, Mukhtar Ansari, had a long-standing hold over the Mau seat before his death due to cardiac arrest in March 2024 while in custody. The disqualification marks another political setback for the Ansari family and may open the seat to a fiercely contested by-election in the coming months.