'Akash' grounded: BSP chief Mayawati clips wings of heir apparent

London-educated 29-year-old Akash Anand, 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 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.

On the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 that year, Mayawati first appointed her brother Anand Kumar as the party’s national vice president.

A few days later, Mayawati formally introduced Anand to senior party leaders with the refrain that he had returned from London after completing his MBA, and that he would look after party affairs.

Nonetheless, it was an explicit signal of her future plans and the purported generational shift in the BSP, which was founded by late Kanshi Ram for the uplift of the downtrodden.

Interestingly, Kumar was soon relieved from the post after Mayawati, a four-time chief minister of UP, was widely criticised for pursuing dynastic politics.

But, Anand stayed put with his aunt as an archetypal go-to-person, accompanying her at important party meets and functions.

Although, Anand was not an office bearer then, yet his high-optic presence around Mayawati at important occasions, reinforced his rising clout in the BSP, especially at a crucial time when the party was bereft of ground level leaders following high profile exits of stalwarts including Swamy Prasad Maurya and Naseemuddin Siddiqui.

For example, he accompanied Mayawati at the historic January 12, 2019 joint press conference in Lucknow, which she addressed with bête noire SP president Akhilesh Yadav to announce their pre-poll alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Later, Anand figured among the BSP star campaigners alongside Mayawati and party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra. Nonetheless, the 2019 BSP-SP tie-up failed miserably at the hustings and the two parties parted ways.

Interestingly, the then UP chief minister Mayawati, while addressing a rally in Lucknow on August 9, 2008, hinted at her plausible successor to lead the BSP.

Without taking any name, the Dalit leader announced she had nominated the successor, who was 18-20 years younger to her, hailing from her own ‘chamar’ (scheduled caste) community, but not hailing from her family.

She claimed ‘his’ name was mentioned in a sealed envelope, left in the safe custody of her close confidantes, who would disclose the name in event of her death or incarceration.

With the latest action, BSP has once again left the question of the party’s future leader open ended.