Mayawati names old party loyalist Bhimrao Ambedkar as RS candidate

Laying to rest speculation over naming her brother Anand as the party's Rajya Sabha candidate, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Tuesday night named old loyalist Bhim Rao Ambedkar as its candidate for the upper House of Parliament.

In a statement, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said there is no place for dynastic politics in her party and all speculation about naming her brother was false and motivated.

Ambedkar is from Etawah and has been a legislator from Lakhna constituency in the district.

She announced the name of the old party loyalist after a marathon meeting of BSP leaders and office-bearers. She further said that her brother will never hold any office as an MP or Minister.

The announcement also nipped the speculation that the four-time Chief Minister had extended support to the candidates of arch rivals Samajwadi Party (SP) in the Lok Sabha bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur in lieu of some understanding in her favour for a re-entry into the Rajya Sabha or that of her brother.

The BSP candidate had won the state assembly election from Lakhan in 2007 but failed to retain his seat in the 2012 assembly polls.

Terming her decision to nominate Ambedkar as the candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls as "a missionary decision" to uphold the basic principles of her party, the BSP chief said she would never compromise on this front as it was bigger than anything else.