Fearing arrest, Maya picks ‘successor’

Mayawati told a meeting of state and district presidents of the party here yesterday that ‘‘Azad would carry my message to people in my absence’’.

Party spokesman Sudhir Goyal, when contacted, told The Indian Express that ‘‘Azad will only function as a bridge between her and the party cadre and people in her absence. He also made it clear that ‘‘Mayawati has not nominated Azad as her successor’’. He added that Azad would only continue her work.

A Dalit, Azad, 59, hails from UP’s Yadav-dominated Azamgarh. A Law graduate, he started out as a school teacher and later joined the UP Sales Tax Department. While in service, he became active in the Dalit movement among government employees spearheaded by BSP leader Kanshi Ram. He quit as a sales tax officer in 1996 after he was picked by the BSP as their candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls. Azad is currently serving his second term in the Upper House. Though almost unheard of till now, Azad is a national general secretary of the BSP.

Azad, however, sought to downplay the development. He told The Indian Express that there ‘‘is no question of my becoming Mayawati’s successor’’. ‘‘I am an ordinary soldier of the party,’’ he stressed, saying: ‘‘Mayawatiji is my leader and Kanshi Ramji is the fountainhead of inspiration for me. Till my last breath, I will work work on their command.’’

When asked what prompted Mayawati to choose him over the others, Azad said: ‘‘A soldier only knows what the command is, and it is the commander who knows the reasons behind it.’’ He went on to stress that ‘‘no new post has been created for me. I continue to be what I am, the party’s general secretary. But Mayawati’s decision has only added to my responsibility. This is aimed at strengthening the party’’.

Asked about his unusual name, Azad said he was named Gandhi because he was very quiet, meek and submissive as a child. ‘‘I was even made to stand in the granary by my father to force me to speak up, but I would seldom say anything,’’ he said, and added: ‘‘However, when I came of age, I realised just being a Gandhi was not enough, so I declared myself Azad (free)…I can be both, a gentle Gandhi and an assertive Azad, as the situation may demand.’’