Will make my nephew Akash Anand join BSP movement, announces Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday accused a section of media of hatching a conspiracy against her party. The BSP chief said that certain media houses unnecessarily started showing reports that Akash Anand, son of her elder brother Anand Kumar, was being promoted in the party. "Some media house said that I am promoting Akash Anand in BSP after he was seen with me at some function. This has been done under a conspiracy," she said on Thursday.

Mayawati said that her family is being attacked by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through misuse of institutions like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED). The BSP chief also said that she will now make Akash join BSP movement so that he can learn something.   

BSP chief Mayawati: I am a disciple of Kanshi Ram ji, so to give a 'tit for tat' answer I will make Akash (her nephew) join BSP movement & make him learn. If some casteist & anti-Dalit section of media has a problem with that then let it be. Our party doesn't care. https://t.co/UU12YelctC

— ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2019

Mayawati said the rise in the BSP's popularity after its alliance with the Samajwadi Party has created unrest among some parties and leaders. "Rise in the popularity of BSP and its alliance with SP has created unrest among parties and leaders who are anti-Dalits and casteist. Instead of fighting us fair and square they are making absurd remarks against us and conspiring with some casteist and anti-Dalit TV channels," she said.

Her comments follow reports in a section of the media that her nephew would be her heir apparent.

#WATCH: BSP chief Mayawati's message to media "Hum dabbu (timid) kism ke log nahi hain jo sun kar baith jaenge, ghabra jaenge. Uska muhtod jawab dena bhi hamein aata hai..." pic.twitter.com/BOy04f64CL

— ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2019

She said her younger brother Anand Kumar and his family had selflessly struggled since 2003 to support her and the BSP but never sought a party position. Earlier, the SP and the BSP announced a pre-poll alliance sans the Congress party. Both the parties are in talks with smaller parties like the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

This is not the first time the two parties have joined hands but the alliance of SP-BSP, once the sworn enemies, came together 26 years after then Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram tied up in 1993. However, their acrimonious alliance could not last long and their government in Uttar Pradesh collapsed.