Rama Krishna Sangem
BSP supremo Mayawati has thrown out her nephew Akash Anand from the high post of party national coordinator and the role of her successor. London-educated 29-year-old Akash, the heir apparent of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, saw his political fortune dwindle within a matter of five months.
Mayawati, who anointed nephew Anand as the party’s national coordinator and her political successor at a party meet in December 2023, divested him of both the coveted positions on May 7 Tuesday night. The decision was announced on micro-blogging site X (formerly Twitter). In her post, Mayawati said that Anand was removed over his purported political “immaturity”.
The meteoritic rise of Anand was punctured by his rather vitriolic canvassing in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which saw a police case registered against him for his fiery speech in a rally in Sitapur district on April 28.
After the incident, he was advised by the BSP leadership to refrain from electioneering but he continued to actively participate in political functions and interacting with party workers, while also engaging with the youth, teachers and students community to propagate party’s messages.
While Anand was relieved of his positions, his father Anand Kumar, who is Mayawati’s younger brother, has been retained.
Mayawati and Anand had dug in their heels to make the Lok Sabha polls a triangular contest in UP vis-à-vis the Bharatiya Janata Party (BSP) and Congress-Samajwadi Party (SP) led pre-poll alliances.
However, since the party felt that Anand’s fiery speeches and potential breach of the model code of conduct could sully the image of the party which is reckoned for its committed and disciplined cadre while also jeopardising the prospects of party candidates, Mayawati cracked the whip to send a strong message.
Although, there is a stark difference between Mayawati and Anand with regards to age, political acumen, experience, oratory skills and communication styles, yet the BSP cadres had largely accepted Anand as their future leader, according to a party leader speaking on condition of anonymity.
Bespectacled Anand, who is rather media shy, did schooling from Delhi and later obtained a management degree from the UK, before returning to India to lend a helping hand in his father’s business.
He first made an appearance on the BSP canvas in 2017 after the party suffered a humiliating drubbing in the UP assembly elections.
