Lucknow: On Ambedkar Jayanti, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati rolled out her succession plan when she announced the appointment of her brother Anand Kumar as the party vice-president.
Ms Mayawati also declared that she was no longer averse to taking help from other parties (read Samajwadi Party) in her struggle against the BJP, especially on the issue of EVM tampering.
The BSP president, who has been fiercely guarded about her personal life till now, also spoke about her medical condition. “I cannot put too much stress on my throat after a glandular operation in 1996. That is why I have to read out my speeches,” she said.
Ms Mayawati, on Friday, left her supporters shocked when she chose her Ambedkar Jayanti address to name her brother as her successor.
The BSP has always slammed parties that indulge in nepotism and Ms Mayawati has always underlined the fact that her mentor, late Kanshi Ram, abandoned his family to pursue his political goals.
However, she emphasized that Anand Kumar was being appointed as the BSP vice-president on the condition that he would never become MP, MLA, minister or Chief Minister and would only work for the party. Anand Kumar is the most trusted member of the BSP president’s family and takes care of her finances. However, he is not known to directly interfere in the running of the party or interact with party workers.
He has also recently been under the Income-Tax scanner. The I-T department had, on April 7, launched multiple survey operations at nearly a dozen premises of businesses and firms linked to Anand Kumar. A survey operation under I-T laws pertains to raids where the taxman only visits the business premises of an entity and does not cover his or her residential premises. The department is yet to ascertain the veracity of financial transactions by these entities related to Kumar.
The BSP chief, who has been under fire, following a recent decision of the new UP government to order probe into sale of sugar mills, said, “Me and my family are being targeted so that I stop speaking on the EVM tampering issue.”
