Ghazipur, Apr 7 (IANS): Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday met the family members of Mukhtar Ansari in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur.

Akhilesh Yadav met Mukhtar Ansari’s elder brother Afzal Ansari and son Umar Ansari and spent about an hour with the family.

The SP chief’s visit comes days after leaders of various political parties visited the Ansari home after the death of the gangster-turned-politician on March 28.

One of the first political leaders to visit the Ansari family was Asaduddin Owaisi, head of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

The Samajwadi Party, thereafter, rushed party leader and former Lok Sabha MP Dharmendra Yadav and Rajya Sabha MP Balram Yadav to Mohammadabad in Ghazipur. Both the leaders offered flowers at the grave of Mukhtari Ansari at the Kalibagh graveyard and visited his residence to offer their condolences to the family.

On Saturday, SP leader Ram Sudhakar Yadav installed a hoarding of Mukhtar Ansari near the party's state unit office, urging people not to celebrate Eid and observe two-minute silence for Mukhtar Ansari. Later the local police removed the hoarding.