Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Wednesday, 23 September appointed her nephew Ishan Anand as the party's national convener at a national meeting in Lucknow, even as the decision drew fresh scrutiny over nepotism allegations against the party. The appointment came alongside directions from Mayawati to accelerate electoral preparations, particularly for Uttar Pradesh.

The Appointment and Its Context

Ishan Anand, a law graduate, expressed gratitude to Mayawati for the responsibility and pledged to work 'with complete honesty and dedication' to strengthen the party and advance the Bahujan movement. He said he would follow Mayawati's instructions and political path, paying homage to Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram and describing the completion of their 'unfinished work of making the Bahujan Samaj self-reliant' as his top priority.

The appointment follows a turbulent period of organisational changes. Mayawati had earlier relieved her other nephew, Akash Anand, of party responsibilities and subsequently removed him from the party altogether. She had previously indicated that Ishan Anand — who had been given an organisational role before being removed — would be assigned a 'respectable' position once again.

Mayawati's Defence on Nepotism Charges

Addressing the nepotism controversy directly, Mayawati maintained that the BSP has always stood apart from dynastic politics, invoking party founder Kanshi Ram's principle that the 'entire Bahujan Samaj was his family.' She drew a distinction between family members working in the organisation and family members receiving positions based on personal interest, arguing that the former was acceptable while the latter was not.

Critics, however, argue that the successive appointments and removals of her two nephews within a short span contradict this stated principle. The optics of a family-driven organisational churn sit uneasily alongside a party whose identity rests on rejecting upper-caste patronage networks.

Electoral Roadmap for Uttar Pradesh

At the national meeting, Mayawati urged party workers to rise above personal attachments and focus on forming a government in Uttar Pradesh 'for the fifth time' with an absolute majority. She directed the party to contest elections independently, select strong candidates, and activate the organisation down to the booth level — regardless of whether the electoral contest shapes up as a direct fight, a three-way, or a four-way race.

She described the BSP's mission as achieving the 'master key' to political power through Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar's policy of self-respect and self-esteem, stressing that the party's strength lay in the constitutional right to vote held by Dalits, tribals, backward classes, Muslims and other marginalised groups.

Attack on BJP Government

Mayawati also launched a sharp critique of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, citing feedback gathered during the meeting. She alleged that people across Uttar Pradesh and the country were suffering from poverty, unemployment, backwardness, migration and corruption, and that hopes of 'good days' among ordinary citizens had curdled into despair.

She further alleged that the BJP's 'narrow, feudal, and casteist approach,' along with disputes over religious beliefs and a sense of neglect among the Brahmin community, had eroded the ruling party's support base. On economic matters, Mayawati raised concerns about GST, the UPI payment system, and the distribution of growth benefits, arguing that GDP gains were not reaching the poor in adequate measure. She called for thinking about a 'powerful India' rather than merely a 'developed India,' and questioned the persistence of institutional discrimination, citing cases of Dalit students dying by suicide in higher educational institutions.

What Comes Next

With Ishan Anand now holding the national convenorship, the BSP's organisational machinery is expected to shift into higher gear ahead of assembly elections. Whether the party can rebuild its ground-level cadre after years of electoral decline — and whether the nepotism narrative will undermine its Ambedkarite credibility among its core constituency — will be the defining questions in the months ahead.