Lucknow: Four days after removing her “immature” nephew Akash Anand from all party positions, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati on Monday named her younger nephew Ishan Anand to a key organisational position in the party structure.
Akash stands divested of all responsibilities now, but Ishan has been appointed as the BSP’s chief sector in-charge with responsibility for reviewing the party’s organisational work and activities across states other than Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
According to BSP sources, the party’s organisation is divided into three sectors. The first two sectors comprise all states except Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and Ishan Anand has been designated as the ‘Mukhya Sector in-Charge’ of these two sectors.
Ishan will submit reports from these states to his father, Anand Kumar, the BSP’s national vice-president. The role was earlier handled by Akash Anand, who served as the party’s chief national coordinator.
BSP functionaries say that the speculation about Ishan’s growing role intensified after the BSP’s national executive meeting in Lucknow, where Ishan was also present. Party functionaries believes that he could be Mayawati’s successor, and that his latest appointment indicates just that.
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Who is Ishan Anand?
Ishan Anand is the younger nephew of Mayawati and the younger son of her brother Anand Kumar. Former national coordinator of the BSP Akash Anand is his elder brother.
The 27-year-old was introduced to party workers by Mayawati on her birthday this year, telling them that Ishan was the younger son of Anand Kumar.
Within the party, Ishan’s elevation is being viewed as an attempt to develop an alternative to Akash Anand, particularly to connect with young and educated Dalit voters and cadres. His name has increasingly figured in discussions about the BSP’s future leadership and organisational changes.
Ishan was born in Gautam Buddh Nagar and completed his schooling at Genesis Global School in Noida. After Class 12, he moved to the UK for higher education and enrolled for an LLB at the University of Westminster in London, but did not complete the degree. He later involved in the family businesses after coming back to India.
Anand Kumar has business interests in real estate and other sectors in Noida. Ishan has primarily been involved in managing his family’s business and commercial activities. Mayawati had said on her birthday that Ishan had returned to Delhi after completing his studies and was assisting his father with his business operations.
Ishan married Radhika Khanna, the daughter of a Noida businessman, on 24 April 2025 in Haryana. The couple had a love marriage and an inter-caste marriage. Radhika belongs to a Punjabi Khatri family while Ishan is from the Jatav community.
Speculation about Ishan’s formal entry into politics began when he appeared in Lucknow on Mayawati’s birthday. He subsequently started attending party programmes, press conferences and meetings.
His appointment as chief sector in-charge now gives him his first significant organisational responsibility.
Gen Z tactic?
Ishan’s education in the UK helps project him within the party as a young, educated and relatively modern face. His eventual role in the BSP’s strategy in Uttar Pradesh and at the national level will depend on the decisions taken by the party leadership.
BSP leaders point out that Ishan is around three years younger than Akash and could potentially connect with Gen Z voters in a similar manner.
One BSP leader, however, told ThePrint that replacing Akash with Ishan could prove challenging because the younger nephew has little political experience. “Behenji may be promoting Ishan Anand as an alternative to Akash Anand, but he does not have political experience. Besides, he has been kept away from the politics of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, whereas Akash had become increasingly active in Uttar Pradesh. Through his aggressive style and speeches, Akash was trying to connect with young voters and had built a political identity for himself,” the leader said.
“Ishan’s political journey has only just begun. He has had no political training either. Moving one nephew aside and promoting another is therefore a somewhat surprising decision,” the leader added.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)