The entire top brass of the Bahujan Samaj Party must have spent a restless Sunday night owing to the war within the party’s first family, which appears to threaten the BSP’s battle readiness for the coming UP assembly election.
At the heart of the tumult are “Bua” (aunt) Mayawati and her two “bhateeje” (nephews) — Akash and Ishan.
Two developments rocked the party on Sunday, indicating that bad news linked to the party can’t be ruled out in the near future.
After being handed the new role with a swanky title, he is expected to handle crucial states such as West Bengal and Odisha. He has been deputed to review the party’s work in the states, stay in direct touch with sector in-charges in the two states, and submit regular progress reports to Mayawati and Anand Kumar, his father and BSP vice president. “Mayawati is out to signal that she is angry with Akash. And by bringing in Ishan, she is telling party cadres that there is no successor to her. Party insiders claim that Mayawati has a strong feeling that Akash Anand is still under the influence of his now-expelled father-in-law. They want to influence candidate selection and fundraising in states, she believes. This puts the party vice president and Mayawati’s brother, Anand Kumar, in a piquant situation. Both Akash and Ishan are his sons. He has lived under the shadow of his sister’s towering figure. On almost everything in the family, the buck starts and stops with Mayawati. Barring leaders like Satish Mishra, Mayawati has a trust deficit issue with most other leaders in the party. That’s why her brother Anand Kumar is the lone vice president in the party. One is how to protect BSP’s traditional Dalit-Jatav vote bank, and the other is how to counter the rise of the Azad Samaj Party.”
She is said to have ensured that her nephews pursue a good education, and as a result, both Akash and Ishan studied in the UK to earn degrees. We fear a repeat of the events of March 2, 2025, when Akash was removed from the post of National Coordinator for the second time, and on March 3, he was expelled from the party,” a party source said. She worked as a teacher from 1977 until 1984 after earning her B.A. from Delhi’s Kalindi College, a B.Ed. from Meerut University’s VMLG College, and later finishing an LL.B. from Delhi University.
A senior leader said, ” Behanji has been voicing her concern over two things for some time.
