Sporting a ponytail, fancy glasses, a Samajwadi red cap and arriving in Uttar Pradesh’s Baharwar village in a cavalcade of three Ford Endeavors bearing number plates with the same last three digits (786), 30-year-old Abbas Ansari resembles his father in his youth with a swirling moustache. Locals call him “Sher-e-Purvanchal Ka Beta (Son of the Tiger of Purvanchal)”. The former international-level shooter tells News18 to ask the Bharatiya Janata Party why his father is not contesting the ongoing UP elections. Mukhtar Ansari is in jail. “There were lots of conspiracies going on so that he could not fight or win this election. So that was the reason I am the candidate and people know me very well here as I have been here for a decade. There is no difference between my father and me,” Abbas told News18 on Thursday.

Mau in Purvanchal is arguably the most high-stakes battle in the Uttar Pradesh elections. The ruling BJP had pitched its “bulldozer campaign” in the state against five-time Mau MLA Mukhtar Ansari whose son Abbas Ansari is the Samajwadi Party (SP) and ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP)’s joint candidate. Taking him on is the BJP’s Ashok Kumar Singh, for whom the fight in Mau is certainly political but also extremely personal.

This is a seat that Mukhtar Ansari has won since 1996 for five terms now. Is he UP’s biggest villain as the BJP portrays him or a local hero? “For me, he is my hero but ask this question to the people of Mau. In this whole country of 5,000 MLAs, can you name one who has won five times consecutively from jail? There is no one. Because people love and respect him,” Abbas said.

In Mau town, BJP’s Ashok Kumar Singh told News18 that the area has a taint against its name for the last 25 years, which the people want to wipe out this time. “Since 25 years, when we go anywhere in India and say we are from Mau, people say ‘the same Mau known for mafia Mukhtar Ansari?’ The Yogi Adityanath government has broken the back of these mafias. He is not contesting this time as he is on the back foot due to the fear of loss. He won five times due to government patronage from the SP or BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party). These goondas do politics on the basis of political power. Their game finishes when they do not have the shield of power. He used to twirl his moustache and acted brave, being a mafia. Now he sat on a wheelchair and came down on his knees out of fear. This is their aukaat (status),” Singh told News18.

Changing fortunes and entry of bulldozer

The Yogi government says it has destroyed or seized properties worth Rs 200 crore of the “Mukhtar Ansari gang” and the action continued even this week when more land near Ansari’s Gazal Hotel in Mau was seized. “Ansari in 1996 fought from here travelling in an old Maruti Suzuki Gypsy and a Maruti 800 car. Now his son travels in 7-8 SUVs and has properties worth crores. Where has all this come from? In 25 years, they have swallowed money sent for people’s development; haram ki kamai hai (this is ill-gotten wealth) — he has no factory or business. Aise logon ka Yogi sarkar mein kaayde se kaam ho raha hai (such people are getting the proper treatment under the Yogi government),” Ashok Kumar Singh said. He maintained that there is no difference between Mukhtar or his son contesting. “Public ne mann bana liya hai — mafia bhagana hai, mau bachana hai (the people have decided — to chase away the mafia and save Mau),” Singh said.

Abbas vehemently denied the charges. “All our business is legal and that is why I am standing here. Because their government would not allow me to contest elections if I was wrong at any place. Our case is sub-judice. Soon you will see the results in court,” he countered.

The chief minister, he said, was trying to scare the people of UP by saying 1,000 bulldozers are ready to roll out after March 10 to flatten the properties of criminals. “Yahan pe janta se gundai nahi chalti hai, yahan janta ke saath mohabbat se pyaar ke saath pesh aana chahiye (You can’t bully the people here, you should treat them with love and affection), and the people then love you like they love my father,” Abbas said. “My father has dedicated his life to the people. He has done things for the people that no one else can do. Our job is to keep our people safe.”

Abbas did not say much on the bulldozer campaign against his family and maintained that this has been done as the Yogi government is scared of the backlash for not working for the people over the last 5 years. “Now it is time for the examination and he is scared that people are going to fail him. That is why he is doing these things. There is a saying in Hindi — khisiyani billi khamba noche (a cat unable to catch mice will scratch the pillar in frustration). Yeh khamba noche wali sthiti hai (this is an act of frustration),” Abbas said. BJP’s Ashok Kumar Singh, however, said Yogi’s bulldozers are getting repaired and will run “with double speed” after the poll results are out on March 10 to finish Ansari’s gundai (hooliganism).

It’s personal

Ashok Kumar Singh also has deep personal angst against Mukhtar Ansari. “My brother Ajay Prakash in 2009 was killed by Mukhtar Ansari’s men in Mau city, near to where we are standing. He murders people for financial gain, not personal rivalry. My brother was a big contractor from whom 10% goonda tax was sought. He refused. A witness Ram Singh Maurya was also killed in 2010 along with a constable in a similar fashion,” he alleged.

For Abbas Ansari, the challenge, meanwhile, is to make voters realise that he is not contesting on an SP or BSP ticket but on SBSP’s ticket and the poll symbol of a walking stick. “If you do not see my father’s picture or cycle/elephant symbol, don’t get confused. Vote for my picture and walking stick symbol as the cycle will not be there on the EVM,” he repeatedly said to voters.

He told News18 that his family did not change their party, BSP, but it was Mayawati who changed the candidate of Mau. “That is maybe the reason my father is not contesting the election,” he said.

Abbas has represented India in international-level shooting competitions earlier and won medals. His election affidavit mentions how he owns over half-a-dozen weapons due to sporting reasons but all have been confiscated by the police as his arms licence was cancelled due to five pending cases.

Mukhtar Ansari won in 2017 from Mau on a BSP ticket and his brother Afzal Ansari is a BSP MP in the Lok Sabha. Abbas also contested on a BSP ticket in 2017 from the Ghosi seat but lost. “I have my own thinking and point of view. I see Akhilesh doing very well. He is young, knows the calibre of people. The people of UP think Akhilesh is the best option for the state,” Abbas Ansari told News18, before proceeding to the next campaign of the day in Mau. The seat will see voting on March 7.

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