Cornered Mayawati hits back, says open to anti-BJP front on faulty EVMs

BSP supremo spells out succession plan, names brother Anand as deputy

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati says she might join hands with like-minded parties in opposing the Bharatiya Janata party's alleged tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs) to win the 2017 assembly polls.

The BSP chief was the first to question the massive mandate for the BJP, which won 312 of the 403 assembly seats in UP, alleging EVM tampering. After having refused to join a 2015 Bihar-like alliance in UP, where the Samajwadi Party and Congress came together to fight the BJP, she could win only 19 seats in the state she ruled as chief minister in 2007-12.

Congress and SP sources said the BSP joining them would be a welcome step, whether guided by Mayawati’s political compulsion or her desperation to stay relevant in the crucial state.

Mayawati also faces heat over a recent probe ordered by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath over her decision when in power to sell 21 sugar mills at allegedly throwaway prices and build memorials.

The decision to sell the mills was a collective decision of the state cabinet, she said in her defence, as Adityanath said he sniffed a Rs 1,100-crore scam in the decisions.

Amid rising concern over an uncertain future for the Mayawati-centric party, the BSP supremo also unveiled a succession plan by appointing her younger brother, Anand Kumar, as party vice president. With a rider that he would not become an MLA, MP, minister or chief minister.

The decision, she explained, would allow her to spend more time in Lucknow, while Anand would sign the official papers in Delhi.

Over the past decade, Anand Kumar, who worked as a government clerk in Noida, has transformed into a real estate and hospitality sector baron, with properties in Mussoorie, Siliguri, Mumbai and Kolkata. He'd remained away from the limelight till recently, after the Enforcement Directorate said it had detected that Rs 104 crore cash was deposited in two accounts, including one belonging to Kumar and another of the BSP. Income tax authorities are probing the extraordinary profits his companies have made.

The BJP is using agencies like the ED, Central Bureau of Investigation and income tax department to harass her kin, to settle scores with her, Mayawati alleged.

Anand will continue with his business interests as before, said Mayawati, adding that he need not depend on anyone financially.

The two big announcements by Mayawati came on a day when she paid tribute to dalit icon BR Ambedkar on his birth anniversary, along with several leading politicians.

EVMs are the latest binding factor among opposition parties. On Wednesday, they together petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee on the alleged tampering. Mayawati aide and Rajya Sabha member Satish Chandra Misra was part of the delegation led by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. According to Mayawati, EVMs were tampered with in 250 of the 403 seats in UP.