BSP chief Mayawati appoints brother, nephew to key party posts

The decision was taken at a meeting held in Lucknow, which was attended by top functionaries of the party.

New Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday appointed her brother Anand Kumar as the national vice-president of the party, while nephew Akash Anand was made national coordinator . Member of Parliament from Amroha, Danish Ali has been made leader of the party in Lok Sabha and Nagina MP Girish Chandra has been appointed chief whip, he said. The decision was taken at a meeting held in Lucknow, which was attended by top functionaries of the party. Party leader Ramji Gautam was also appointed as national coordinator. Early today, Mayawati chaired a meeting with her party office bearers, members, legislators and parliamentarians to chalk out a strategy for upcoming by-elections to 11 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. Senior officials and all members of parliament were present at the meeting along with state presidents from across the country. The elevation of Anand's son Akash is being seen a sign as his growing influence in the party affairs. The suave 24-year-old, who is now a regular in BSP's official engagements, was introduced to party leaders by Mayawati in 2017 when she told them that he had returned from London after doing his MBA and he would look after the party affairs. Akash, the son of her younger brother Anand, made his public debut in May 2017, when he accompanied Mayawati to Saharanpur. In September 2017, he shared the stage with her and his father at a Meerut rally. Mayawati had recently announced her decision that the BSP will contest the upcoming by-elections for 11 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh alone, stating that her ally Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party's vote base did not support the coalition in the Lok Sabha elections. On Friday, Mayawati ridiculed the BJP for "engineering defection" of four TDP MPs in the Rajya Sabha, saying "everything is fair in BJP brand of politics". "Yesterday when the President was giving assurances to the country on the behalf of the government, the BJP on the same day engineered defection of four TDP MPs," she tweeted. The BSP managed to bag 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, SP won 5 and RLD drew a blank, taking the 'mahagathbandhan' total to 15.