Mayawati appoints brother, nephew on key party posts

Unfazed by allegations of nepotism, BSP supremo Mayawati on Sunday appointed her brother Anand Kumar and nephew Akash Kumar on key party posts.

The appointment of Anand as the national vice-president of the party indicated that he could be Mayawati's successor, according to the senior BSP leaders here.

The BSP supremo had earlier also appointed Anand as the vice-president but had removed him after facing criticism of promoting her family.

Mayawati also appointed Akash Kumar, who had been a regular at the BSP supremo's public meetings and party programs, as the national coordinator of the party.

The announcement of the appointments were made by Mayawati at her party's national convention here in which all top BSP leaders, including the newly elected Lok Sabha members, were present.

BSP MP from Amroha and former JD (S) leader Danish Ali was made the leader of the party in the House.

Sources in the BSP said that Akash had been entrusted with the responsibility of strengthening the organisation at the grass root level not only in Uttar Pradesh but in other parts of the country as well.

BSP leaders, who attended the convention, said that the party, in a change of strategy, would be contesting the forthcoming assembly by-polls to 12 seats in the state on its own. Interestingly the BSP had never contested the by-polls in the state in the past.

They said that Mayawati remained open to an alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the next assembly polls in 2022. ''A decision to that effect will be taken at the appropriate time,'' said a senior BSP leader.

The BSP supremo had admitted that her alliance with the SP failed to yield any positive results and hinted that it might not continue.

BSP leaders, who arrived at the party office here to take part in the meeting, were in for a shock, when they were asked to deposit their cell phones, car keys, bags and even pens before being allowed in.

''It never happened in the past,'' remarked a leader.