Lucknow: After bringing her brother Mr Anand Kumar into the party, BSP president Mayawati is now ready to launch her nephew Akash. Mr Akash, who has done his masters in business administration from London, is said to be ready to take over a major responsibility in the BSP.

“Ms Mayawati may launch Akash at the September 18 rally in Meerut. She is increasingly depending on him,  even more than her brother and keeps giving him advice about political issues. She is actually preparing him for a bigger role in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections”, said a aide close to Ms Mayawati.

According to party sources, Ms Mayawati has stopped trusting party leaders after a series of desertions by top leaders including the likes of Mr Swami Prasad Maurya and Mr Naseemuddin Siddiqui. She is apparently wary of being stabbed in the back and feels that it is only her blood relatives who will protect her from outside influences.

The BSP, till now, has been vehemently opposed to nepotism and has even criticised those political leaders who have been promoting their family members in politics.

“Circumstances are changing and even the most trustworthy leaders have betrayed Behenji so it is natural that she will stop trusting outsiders”, the aide explained. Another factor that has made Ms Mayawati look within her own family is the dearth of Dalit leaders in the BSP.

All top Dalit leaders have either been thrown out or have left the party and there is a huge vacuum when it comes to dalit leadership in the BSP.

Mr Satish Chandra Misra, BSP general secretary, has been enjoying the second position in the party for more than a decade but he lacks acceptability among dalits.

“Mr Misra’s presence in the party is actually upsetting Dalits who feel that upper caste Brahmins are trying to dominate the BSP. In fact, this is one major charge against Ms Mayawati. The party will have to cultivate new Dalit leaders if it wishes to sustain itself. In that sense, Anand Kumar and Akash will be more acceptable that Mr Misra because they belong to the Dalit class”, said a BSP MLA.

Ms Mayawati, sources said, is now determined to reduce dependency on a handful of leaders and asked her office to maintain a record of all activities being carried out and supervised by every leader. Records of new members at the zonal level and the membership contribution taken from, them will also be listed.