 "Meet Akash Anand, the successor of Mayawati in Bahujan Samaj Party")
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati's nephew, Akash Anand, was named as her successor on Sunday. The announcement was made during a party meeting in Lucknow, marking a strategic move for the BSP's future leadership.
BSP leader Udayveer Singh said Anand has been given the responsibility to strengthen the party organisation all over the country. "She [Mayawati] said he [Anand] will be her heir after her," he said. The party's official statement, however, did not mention any such decision.
On many occasions, 28-year-old Akash has been spotted in party circles and currently holds the official position of BSP's national coordinator.
Going by Akash Anand's official X account, he describes himself as "a young supporter of Baba Saheb's vision" and that he stands for "education, empowerment and equality."
Since August of this year, Akash Anand's attendance at the state-level review meeting in Lucknow has been viewed as another indication of his rising status in the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The meeting, presided over by Mayawati, was called to take stock of the party's preparations for the Lok Sabha polls. The same month, Akash Anand led the party's 14-day' Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay Sankalp Yatra'.
From MBA graduate to Mayawati's political heir
Akash Anand entered politics in 2017 at a young age of 22. An MBA graduate from London, his political debut was with Mayawati at a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, where he shared the dais with Akhilesh Yadav and Ajit Singh.
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At the same time, Mayawati also refuted allegations of nepotism, telling the press that Anand had decided "not to take the post of the party's vice president.
"Recently I appointed Anand as vice president but due to nepotism, he himself decided not to take the post. Unfortunately, after Akash was seen on my birthday, some channels dragged him and presented him as the future face of the party," Mayawati said.
Later, in June, Mayawati's brother Anand Kumar was appointed as the party's vice-president, and his nephew Akash Anand was named the national coordinator.
In 2019, Akash Anand addressed his first rally in Uttar Pradesh's Agra. The BSP was then a part of the Mahagathbandhan, which was an anti-Congress and anti-BJP bloc formed in the run-up to the 2019 general election under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Earlier this year, in a major shift from the party's usual strategy of not organising padayatras, Akash Anand launched a 14-day 'Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay Sankalp Yatra', signalling a repositioning of the BSP's strategy ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha polls next year.
Reports suggest that Mayawati was grooming Akash Anand for the long haul.