Yasar Shah

Yasar Shah (born 22 May 1977) is an Indian politician and a former cabinet minister in the Government of Uttar Pradesh. He represented the Matera constituency in both the 16th Uttar Pradesh Assembly (2012–2017) and the 17th Uttar Pradesh Assembly (2017–2022) as a member of the Samajwadi Party. He is the son of late cabinet minister Waqar Ahmad Shah and former MP Rubab Sayda. His mother, Rubab Sayda, served as Member of Parliament from Bahraich.

Political career Shah began his political journey in 2005 when he won the Bahraich district panchayat election with the highest number of votes. In 2012, he was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the newly created Matera constituency as a Samajwadi Party candidate, defeating Indian National Congress’s Ali Akabar by a margin of 2,801 votes.

He was re-elected from Matera in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election in a closely contested race, defeating Bharatiya Janata Party's Arun Veer Singh by a margin of 1,595 votes. Shah received 79,188 votes (40.0%), while Singh got 77,593 votes (39.2%). Bahujan Samaj Party’s Sultan Ahmad Khan secured 33,482 votes (16.9%). Together, the top three candidates accounted for 96.1% of the total votes.

Later, in October 2015, he was promoted to Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Energy and subsequently became the Transport Minister (Independent Charge) in the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet.

Legislative achievements During his tenure as Energy and later Transport Minister, Shah oversaw multiple development projects, including the replacement of overhead power lines with underground lines in Bahraich, construction of a ₹20 crore trauma center, and establishment of 22 power substations.

As Transport Minister, he implemented reforms in public transport, introducing Volvo and Scania buses on key intercity routes. He also initiated the renovation of bus terminals in Bahraich and Lucknow. He lists his profession as agriculturist and businessman.

In November 2017, during a municipal election campaign in Bahraich, Yasar Shah stated that the same city from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his parliamentary journey would also witness the political downfall of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He accused the BJP of promoting divisive politics and emphasized Bahraich's legacy of communal harmony.

In February 2024, he criticized Samajwadi Party rebels who voted for BJP candidates in Rajya Sabha elections.

In September 2024, Shah was granted interim protection from arrest by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court in a case related to a fake social media post alleging a police recruitment exam paper leak. The FIR, registered on 22 August 2024 at Lucknow's Husainganj police station, accused several individuals of spreading misinformation and demanding money from candidates. The court observed that Shah’s involvement was limited to a single tweet, which may have been objectionable, but emphasized the constitutional protection of free expression. He was cautioned to exercise restraint in future social media activity.