Mukhtar Ansari, (30 June 1963 – 28 March 2024) was an Indian gangster, convicted murderer[3] and a politician, based in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

[4][5][6] He was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Mau constituency five times, including twice as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.

[9] Mukhtar Ansari's grand-uncle was Mohammad Usman, who was a brigadier in the Indian Army; he never married and remained bachelor all his life.

The gangs were also allegedly involved in running protection ("goonda tax") and extortion rackets, besides other criminal activities such as kidnapping.

[13] Ansari entered politics around 1995 through a student union at Government PG College, Ghazipur, became an MLA in 1996, and started challenging Brijesh Singh's dominance.

[14] To counter Ansari's political influence, Singh supported the election campaign of the BJP leader Krishnanand Rai.

[12] Mukhtar Ansari later claimed that Rai used his political office to award all the contracts to Brijesh Singh's gang, and the two planned to eliminate him.

The party allowed them in after they claimed that they had been framed in criminal cases for fighting against the "feudal system" and promised to refrain from participating in any crimes.

The BSP chief Mayawati portrayed Mukhtar Ansari as Robin Hood and called him "a messiah of the poor".

A raid at Ghazipur jail, where he was lodged, revealed that Mukhtar was living a luxurious life: items like air coolers and cooking equipment were found from his cell.

[21] In 2004, an FIR was logged by DSP Shailendra Singh against Mukhtar Ansari under POTA after recovering a light machine gun (LMG) from his premises.

He defeated his nearest rival, Mahendra Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (a BJP ally) by 6464 votes.

An autopsy carried out by the panel of doctors from AIIMS Delhi over his body confirmed that Ansari died of a heart attack.

[40] 10 days prior to his death, on 19 March 2024, Mukhtar Ansari reported to the Barabanki Court that he was experiencing continuous pain in his nerves and limbs.

"[42] Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, has urged that a judge of the Supreme Court look into Mukhtar Ansari's death.