BSP’s MP Afzal Ansari disqualified as Lok Sabha member after conviction in 2007 Gangster Act case

Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) MP Afzal Ansari, brother of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was disqualified on May 1 following his conviction in a 2007 Gangster Act case.

As per reports, a court in Ghazipur last week sentenced him to four years of prison term and also slapped him with a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

Besides Afzal, Mukhtar Ansari was also convicted in the same case and was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and was also asked to a penalty of Rs 5 lakh.

"Consequent upon his conviction...Afzal Ansari, Member of Lok Sabha representing the Ghazipur Parliamentary Constituency of Uttar Pradesh, stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction i.e. 29 April 2023 in terms of the provisions of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951," a Lok Sabha secretariat notification read.

It is worth mentioning that as per the Representation of the People Act (RPA), any member will be disqualified from House if convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more.

The Gangster Act was registered against the Ansari brothers in connection with the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai in November 2005 and the kidnapping and murder of the VHP leader Nand Kishore Rungta in January 1997.

Recently, in a similar way, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lost his Lok Sabha membership following his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case over the ''Modi Surname'' remark.

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