Will Mayawati's shake-up with nephews enthuse or confuse party facing UP polls?

Removing nephew Akash Anand from all BSP positions and soon after giving a key responsibility to sibling Ishan Anand is open to wide interpretationsBahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has done an organisational flip-flop again. Within days of removing nephew Akash Anand from all party positions, she has given another nephew, Ishan Anand, a key party responsibility.The move has raised speculation about whether the BSP is preparing to foreground a new face as its political future or whether Mayawati is simply reorganising the party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections next year while keeping all real authority firmly in her own hands.Ishan is the younger son of Mayawati’s brother Anand Kumar and Akash’s younger brother. He has been appointed chief sector in-charge. Ishan will look after the BSP’s organisational work in states other than UP and Uttarakhand. This is the 27-year-old’s first significant formal responsibility in the BSP.The timing, however, makes the appointment politically important. Akash’s fresh removal from key posts came after Mayawati described him as politically immature and said he would continue working as an ordinary party worker without any major responsibility. With Ishan being given an organisational role almost immediately afterwards, there is a sense that Mayawati may be testing another member of the family for a larger role in the BSP. The decision adds another layer to a leadership story that has become increasingly open to interpretations. Over the past two years, Mayawati has repeatedly raised and lowered Akash’s position in the party. In December 2023, it was discreetly claimed by some in the party that she had declared him her political successor. Akash was subsequently removed from key positions during the 2024 Lok Sabha poll campaign. He was reinstated, removed again in March 2025, brought back after an apology, and subsequently elevated as chief national coordinator of the BSP.For much of this year, there were signals of Akash being prepared for a larger role. He got responsibilities across states, addressed party rallies, reviewed the organisation and became increasingly visible in UP in the run-up to assembly elections. Mayawati even allowed him to announce candidates at public meetings although she repeatedly clarified that all final decisions remained hers. But now, Akash, 31, has again been demoted.The elevation of Ishan does not formally make him Akash’s replacement. His current responsibility is largely outside UP and there has been no announcement that he will take over Akash’s position. But politically, the symbolism is difficult to miss since Ishan has been brought into the organisational structure at precisely the moment when Akash has been pushed out of the party’s decision-making system.Mayawati first introduced Ishan to BSP workers at her birthday celebrations in January. Since then, he has appeared at party programmes, meetings and media interactions, gradually becoming more visible. The BSP is also likely to see value in Ishan’s profile. Born in Gautam Buddha Nagar, he studied in an international school and went to the United Kingdom for higher education. He enrolled at the University of Westminster for an LLB, although he did not complete the course. On return to India, he became involved in his father’s business.Within the BSP, Ishan’s relatively young age and education background are being seen as potential advantages for a party reaching out to young Dalit voters at a time when other younger leaders, particularly Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad, have been vying for space in UP’s Dalit politics.The immediate message from Mayawati may have less to do with succession than control. The BSP has been through repeated organisational changes, with senior leaders removed, reinstated and removed again. Akash and his father-in-law Ashok Siddharth are the most prominent recent examples.The latest move suggests Mayawati does not want the party’s future to become dependent on any one individual, including her nephews. This is significant because the BSP enters the 2027 elections in weak condition. It won only one assembly seat in 2022 and drew a blank in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. At the same time, the Samajwadi Party has been trying to consolidate Dalits, backward classes and minorities while Azad has emerged as a new political voice among sections of younger Dalits.For Mayawati, therefore, the challenge is not merely to decide who will succeed her. It is to rebuild the party while preventing internal leadership struggles from becoming another source of weakness. Ishan’s appointment gives Mayawati another young family face who can be tested without immediately being declared a successor. It also gives her greater flexibility if Akash’s removal becomes permanent.Yet there is a larger question. Repeatedly changing the roles of family members may keep Mayawati’s control intact, but it can also create uncertainty among party workers about the electoral direction of the organisation.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsPublished By: Shyam BalasubramanianPublished On: Sep 9, 2026 19:53 IST