The Bahujan Samaj Party is once again in the middle of a family reshuffle, as Mayawati's nephew Akash Anand, once positioned as her political successor, currently holds no organisational charge within the party. Meanwhile, his younger brother Ishaan Anand has been handed a significant new role, appointed as the BSP's chief sector in-charge with responsibility for reviewing the party's organisational functioning across roughly 15 states.
What Ishaan Anand's new role involves
In this position, Ishaan Anand will take reports from state units and assess how the organisation is functioning on the ground. Coordinating directly with office-bearers in the states placed under his charge will be a key part of the job. Since his active political presence first drew attention, this is being seen as his biggest assignment yet.
Akash Anand's rocky political journey
Akash Anand's standing within the BSP has shifted repeatedly over the past couple of years. After being named Mayawati's successor, his responsibilities were scaled back more than once, and according to news reports he was removed from his post for a second time in March 2025. Reports through 2025 and into September 2026 have repeatedly suggested that Mayawati has struggled to sustain her trust in him each time he is handed a role, with his position slipping away almost every time.
Another jolt within the family
The latest change follows an episode from February 2025, when Mayawati removed another nephew, Ashok Siddharth, from the party altogether, a move that was widely linked at the time to internal family friction.
Is a new face being groomed ahead of 2027?
The development has revived a familiar question within the BSP: is Mayawati now grooming Ishaan Anand as an alternative to Akash Anand, or is this simply her recurring pattern of quickly elevating a family member before curbing their role soon after? With Uttar Pradesh's 2027 assembly elections drawing closer, how this succession question plays out is likely to shape the party's organisational strategy in the months ahead.
