Mayawati Reasserts Sole Authority Over BSP Candidate Selection

Overview

• Mayawati said on Friday that she has personally interviewed and finalised more than two dozen BSP candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
• She publicly rejected claims that tickets are sold for cash and denied that candidate selection is influenced by money.
• Mayawati told party workers that Akash Anand’s role is limited to addressing public meetings and announcing names already approved by the leadership, and she called rumours about his decision-making power false.
• She has chaired several state-level meetings at the BSP’s Lucknow office and issued directions to state and divisional office-bearers to keep candidate selection tightly controlled by the central leadership.
• The rest of the party’s slate will be decided by Mayawati as the BSP prepares to contest the early-2027 Uttar Pradesh polls on its own, a stance that underscores the party’s long-standing centralised leadership and will shape its caste-based electoral strategy and outreach.