By Pradeep Kapoor
The Bahujan Samaj Party’s confused national president Mayawati has this time brought her younger nephew, Ishan Anand, as the national coordinator of the party, at a time when crucial UP Assembly elections are scheduled for early 2027.
Frequent changes at the number two position over the last few months have demoralised the rank and file of the party and the organisation.
First, the BSP national president brought back her elder nephew Akash Anand twice as national coordinator and subsequently removed him from those key positions. He had also been named as her political successor twice, but spurned on both occasions.
The high-profile appointments within the BSP involving the nephews of Mayawati were just out of any Bollywood film script. Allegations of nepotism flew thick and fast.
Mayawati also took to social media to announce her decision regarding those appointments and subsequent removals. She also expressed her unhappiness with her close relative and former MP Ashok Sidharth, whose daughter is married to Mayawati’s elder nephew Akash Anand.
Whenever Akash Anand tried to assert his position as the number two in the party and organisation, or attacked the BJP over its Hindutva and anti-Dalit politics, he was immediately fired from the number two position in BSP.
An insecure Mayawati was clearly apprehensive of a takeover of the party and organisation by Ashok Sidharth and his son-in-law Akash Anand.
So much so, that in order to help his son-in-law Akash Anand, Ashok Sidharth even announced retirement from politics. But his announcement could not protect the position of his son-in-law within the party.
Mayawati became so frustrated with both the nephews that she recently announced her decision to bring in her niece Deepika Anand, who was studying abroad and wanted to give her the key position. But eventually she has now settled for her younger nephew Ishan Anand, although for how long it’s uncertain.
Of course, Mayawati understands that traditional BSP voters are being regularly poached by BJP, Samajwadi Party, Congress and Azad Party of Dalit leader from Western UP, Chandra Shekhar Ravan.
Behenji is fighting for the very survival of her party, which is surely witnessing one of its worst times politically, with no representation in Lok Sabha, and the only MLA in UP Assembly Uma Shankar Singh has also passed away due to cancer.
Whatever Mayawati may say about political development in the country and the state, she is being perceived as advising the double engine governments of BJP at the Centre and the state.
Founded by Dalit ideologue Kansiram in 1984, BSP came to power in on its own in 2007 and Mayawati became the chief minister for the fourth time. Before that she became chief minister of UP thrice with the help of BJP. During 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the vote share of the party came down to only nine percent.
Mayawati appears to be under tremendous pressure not to confront BJP openly. This is why the opposition parties openly call BSP as the “B team of the saffron brigade”. (IPA Service)
