‘Banaras Door Ast’: Why Mukhtar Ansari could never establish supremacy in Varanasi?

VARANASI What Sufi scholar Nizamuddin Auliya famously said for Delhi -- Hunooz Dilli Door Ast (Delhi is still far away) -- holds for gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari in the context of Varanasi. Despite several attempts to become the centre of power in Varanasi, Ansari could never chain the spirit of Kashi, the city which celebrates life even among the dead.

In this context, it almost felt like poetic justice when the MP/MLA court in Varanasi awarded a life sentence to Ansari on Monday. The court pronounced the quantum of his sentence after determining the mafia’s guilt in the Awadhesh Rai murder case. To recall, Rai was sprayed with bullets in the city’s Chetganj area on August 3, 1991. Mukhtar and four others were named in the case. After the killing, Mukhtar’s influence grew in the underworld by leaps and bounds.

Regardless of his criminal record and underworld activities, mafia Mukhtar Ansari won the Mau Sadar assembly seat five times between 1996 and 2017. However, the mafia had to face his first political debacle in 2009 in Varanasi when BJP veteran Dr Murli Manohar Joshi pinned him in the Lok Sabha elections by a margin of over 17,000 votes.

Even in the underworld, Ansari could never call the shots in Varanasi due to his arch-nemesis Brijesh Singh, a gangster-turned-politician from the city. Notably, Singh is an accused in the case of an alleged attack on Mukhtar Ansari in the Mohammadabad area of Ghazipur in 2001. Currently, Singh is out on bail.

“Ansari tried to expand his gang’s network in Varanasi. He succeeded a bit initially but his plans were always challenged. He faced his first defeat in the arena of politics here itself. After all, Banaras is Banaras. It always teaches a lesson to such elements,” said Shailendra Singh, a close associate of Rai and Congress leader.

Speaking on Ansari’s sentence in the Awadhesh Rai case, a senior journalist said, “His murder was Ansari’s way of trying to establish his supremacy in Banaras. Following the murder, Rai’s younger brother, Ajay Rai, got a case lodged against five persons, including Ansari, and continued his fight for justice.”

Meanwhile, Rai also gained political stature in Banaras. He was first elected an MLA from the Kolasala assembly constituency (presently Pindra) on a BJP ticket in 1996. In all, he won the seat five times. Later, he contested as an independent in 2009 and won again. In 2012, he won again as a Congress candidate. This way, Rai too challenged Ansari’s attempts to establish supremacy in Banaras.

“I am thankful to the team of lawyers, prosecution, and supporters. I am quite thankful to the public of Pindara assembly constituency that gave me strength to fight the mafia by electing me as the MLA five times,” said Rai.

Taking a leaf from Auliya’s idiolect, it is safe to say that for Ansari, it was always -- Banaras Door Ast.