BSP Chief Mayawati Reinstates Nephew Akash Anand As Her Successor

Bahujan Samaj Party (BJP) chief Mayawati reinstated her nephew Akash Anand as the party’s national coordinator and announced him as her successor on Sunday.

“Mayawati has reinstated Akash Anand to his post and made him the National Coordinator,” BSP leader Sarwar Malik said confirming the development. 

Calling him not ‘fully mature’, Mayawati on May 7 announced the removal of Anand from his role as national coordinator and also her “political successor”. Akash’s campaign events were also cancelled.

Who Is Akash Anand?

Akash Anand started his political journey in 2017 at the age of 22. He holds an MBA degree from London.

In June 2019, during BSP’s national executive meeting, Anand assumed the role of the party’s national coordinator.

The 29-year-old was designated as Mayawati’s political heir in December last year.

Call For Leadership Change In BJP?

The exact reason for the move remains unclear but it came soon after he was booked by the Sitapur police in Uttar Pradesh, along with other party members, for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during the Lok Sabha Election 2024 after made derogatory remarks against BJP.

However, after a series of setbacks, especially the debacle during the Lok Sabha polls, the BSP cadres had been seeking a change in leadership for the party’s survival.

Quoting the party cadres, a report by news agency IANS said that BSP performance deteriorated after Akash Anand was restricted from campaigning.

The BSP has won no seats in the Lok Sabha elections and is left with just one seat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Its status as a national party is also at risk. This is the party’s worst electoral performance since its inception in 1984.

“The party has been steadily tumbling down after the 2012 Assembly polls but Mayawati is not bothered. There has been no discussion at any level in the party and everything — from crucial decisions about alliances to ticket distribution — is decided by her, except the blame for the defeat. If the BSP has to survive, there is a need to effect a change in the leadership at the earliest so that we can regain lost ground in the 2027 Assembly elections,” the report quoted a former party coordinator as saying.

A former BSP MLA said that the party leadership had forced a majority of the party leaders to seek options in other parties and had expelled the remaining leaders.