Stature of Mayawati's Nephew Grows in BSP

The stature of Akash Anand, BSP chief Mayawati's nephew and party's national coordinator has grown further in the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Akash Anand will now handle the responsibility of creating momentum for the party in four of the five states that would go to polls later this year.

Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram are due for polls, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, and Mayawati said her party would be contesting in all states barring Mizoram.

"Akash Anand, along with national coordinator and Rajya Sabha MP Ram ji Gautam, would look after the election responsibilities in all four states. They will begin campaigning in these states from this month," she told partymen.

Mayawati, meanwhile, criticised the instances of 'religious intolerance' in the country and termed them as unjustified.

She also said that the decision in BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to remove graves, allegedly because they were built on public land, was not right and smacked of politics.

The BSP chief further said the Uttar Pradesh government must focus on checking public fear that had grown due to infighting among criminals in the state.

"The UP government must focus on controlling this situation. This will be my advice to them," Mayawati said in a party statement.

"I feel that structures established for years, more specifically graves, in UP and Uttarakhand, that are being removed because they encroach on government land is not right. My party is opposed to this. The sudden decision to demolish these constructions is not right. Hurting someone's religious feelings for political purposes is not acceptable," Mayawati said.