Mayawati Forgets Her Own Principles? Family Presence Grows In BSP As Akash Anand's Brother Joins Party

Jagran Correspondent, Lucknow | Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Mayawati, seems to compromise with her ideology of not promoting dynastic politics. Mayawati, who took over the reins of the BSP from Kanshi Ram, a Dalit from Punjab, has always opposed dynastic politics. However, her own brother, Anand Kumar, is the party's vice president. Mayawati then taught her brother's elder son, Akash Anand, the basics of politics and entrusted him with the important position of National Coordinator. Now, she opened the party's door for Akash's brother, Ishan Anand.

"My principle is that I meet family members and relatives only once a year on my birthday, but I keep all my family members well away from politics so that no one can accuse me of nepotism. I have dedicated my entire life to the welfare of the Bahujan Samaj, and to achieve this goal, I have also taken a vow to remain unmarried for the rest of my life." In the year 2006, on the occasion of her 50th birthday on January 15, Mayawati herself wrote these lines in the first part of her book 'Mere Sangharshmay Jeevan Aur Bahujan Movement Ka Safarnama', but she kept forgetting her own principle over the years.

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Ishan Anand's Entry Into The Party

When the family feud escalated due to the anti-party activities of his nephew's father-in-law, former MP Ashok Siddharth, Akash was stripped of his post for the third time and then expelled from the party on Thursday. Meanwhile, Mayawati also allowed her younger nephew (Akash's younger brother), Ishan, to join the party. Ishan, 27, has been managing his father Anand's business and is now the BSP's chief sector coordinator. Mayawati, who accompanied Ishan to a national-level meeting on September 3, introduced him to all officials. On Thursday, Ishan's account on the internet media platform X was made public.

Ishan has been given the responsibility of organisational review in all states except Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He will report his work directly to his Mayawati and father Anand.

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Kanshi Ram Had Declared Mayawati As His Political Successor

Kanshi Ram, who founded the Bahujan Samaj Party on April 14, 1984, to uplift the oppressed and oppressed Bahujan Samaj, declared Mayawati his political successor on December 15, 2001. Mayawati took full command of the BSP on September 18, 2003. While Kanshi Ram was alive, the BSP never formed a majority government, but Mayawati did become chief minister three times with the support of other parties. Before the 2007 assembly elections, Mayawati opened the party's doors to all sections of society under a new formula of social engineering. By winning 206 seats in the elections, BSP was successful in forming a majority government for the first time and Mayawati became the CM for the fourth time.

BSP's Decline Under Mayawati's Leadership

However, Mayawati's shift in stance and the growing dominance of the upper castes within the party and government led to a segment of the Bahujan Samaj drifting away from the BSP. Many leaders who had been associated with Kanshi Ram either left the BSP or stepped aside on their own. Consequently, the party's base vote bank, the Dalits, has lost its presence in elections over the past decade and a half.

Unresolved Akash Anand Conundrum for Mayawati

Seeing the plight of the party due to the slipping support base, before the last Lok Sabha elections, Mayawati had made a new political move to create a new foothold for the party among the Dalit youth by declaring her young elder nephew Akash as her successor, but due to a family dispute, far from being made the successor, he has now been shown the way out of the party.

However, it is believed that the announcement of retirement by Ashok, the 'mature' brother-in-law, will ultimately remove Mayawati's anger towards Akash and he would once again play an important role in the party. Mayawati announced on Thursday that she would free her elder nephew, Akash, from the party, but the ground was being prepared to bring his daughter into Bahujan Samaj politics in the future. Almost two and a quarter years ago, upon the birth of his daughter, Akash expressed his desire to prepare his daughter for the party's mission, and the BSP supremo welcomed him.

Expressing happiness on the birth of her daughter, Mayawati had written that 'There is a wave of happiness among all the people on the arrival of a new member in the family of BSP national convenor Akash in the form of a daughter.

(With Ajay Jaiswal's Inputs)