Another Maya nephew on political horizon...Ishan attends BSP meet

Fighting to regain lost ground in UP, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati opened the doors for her younger nephew, Ishan Anand, and launched an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during a review meeting held at the party state unit office on Thursday.

A law graduate from Westminster University in London, Ishan attended the meeting along with his elder brother Akash Anand (BSP national coordinator), party general secretary SC Mishra and BSP state president Vishwanath Pal.

Son of the BSP chief’s younger brother Anand Kumar (vice president of the party), Ishan made his first public appearance at a press conference held by Mayawati on her 69th birthday on Wednesday.

Mayawati is known for giving a message to the party cadre through workers’ review meetings and conferences.

The seating arrangement of the leaders in the meetings is also an indication of the position of a leader in the organisation.

On Wednesday, Ishan shared the dais with the BSP chief, and in the Thursday meeting, his seat was on the right side of the dais along with the national coordinator, national general secretary and state president.

“Soon, he will be given a post in the party organisation and assigned work,” said a BSP leader who attended the meeting.

Facing the daunting task of reviving the BSP’s fortunes in UP politics, Mayawati is relying on family members by allotting them key posts in the party.

The rebellion of top party leaders and efforts by the NDA and INDIA bloc to make inroads into the BSP’s Dalit support base have added to her anxiety.

The rise of Azad Samaj Party (ASP) chief Chandra Shekhar Azad has emerged as another challenge for the BSP to maintain hold over the core Jatav votes.

In the recently held by-polls to the nine assembly seats in UP, ASP candidates polled more votes than the BSP candidates in Meerapur and Kunarki assembly seats in west UP, once the stronghold of BSP.

After the BSP formed the government in UP in 2007, Mayawati announced that her successor would not come from her family, but would rather be from the Jatav community. There was speculation in the party that she would make a senior party leader her heir.

However, the changing political scenario forced her to make amends - and promote a dynasty in politics.

To counter Chandra Shekhar Azad, she announced to promotion of young leaders in the organisation. Akash is 30 years old and Ishan is 26. The duo will be the young faces of the party, the BSP leader said.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Mayawati announced that Akash will lead the party campaign in the Delhi assembly election.

Akash had led the party campaign in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh assembly elections. He also launched the party campaign in Haryana last year but was not seen in action during the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly polls.

In the Thursday review meeting, Mayawati also indicated that the BSP will sharpen its attack on the BJP. She told party leaders that BSP stands on its demand that Union home minister Amit Shah retract his “anti-Bhimrao Ambedkar remark”.

Slamming the BJP government in UP, she accused it of targeting the poor and disadvantaged through excessive crackdowns.

“Reports from our party workers in districts reveal that poor, helpless, and hardworking individuals are being indiscriminately arrested and jailed, giving the impression of a police state,” she said.

Mayawati urged the government to uphold its constitutional responsibilities with sensitivity and seriousness, akin to judicial integrity.

“People are asking why there is selective inaction against crimes committed by those in power. How will law and order improve under such partiality?” she remarked.

The BSP chief labelled the interest of Congress, Samajwadi Party, and BJP in Dalits as an “insincere election gimmick” and accused the parties of maintaining a discriminatory and communal attitude toward Dalits, tribals, the backward classes, and religious minorities, particularly Muslims.