Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has declared her nephew Akash Anand as her political heir, telling party workers to consider him their leader if something were to happen to her. The decision flew in the face of her earlier declarations that her political successor would not be someone from the family.
Akash (28) has an MBA degree and studied at University of Plymouth in England, after having completed his initial schooling from a private school in Noida, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was formally introduced to BSP workers in September 2017, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections that year.
Since then, he has been seen as the “heir apparent” of the four-time chief minister, who appointed him as BSP’s national coordinator in the wake of the 2019 general election.
Mayawati made her decision official Sunday, at the end of an hour-long meeting with the party’s senior leaders, following the declaration of results of elections to five state assemblies. She told them to “consider Akash as her successor in case of an untoward happening with her, just like BSP founder Kanshi Ram named her his successor”.
“Behen ji said just like Kanshi Ram ji announced her name, in the same way, Akash should be considered her successor if something were to happen to her. She said she was informing us about it today (Sunday), in advance. As of now, Behen ji is the supremo,” A.N. Bhasker, who worked as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Mayawati during her fourth stint as chief minister (2007-12), told ThePrint.
He added that while Mayawati said Akash will oversee party functioning in states other than Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for now, she will also count on him to firm up the party’s prospects in UP in the days to come.
Akash Anand was present in the meeting, as he has been in most recent national and state-level meetings of the party. The BSP chief was seen taking his support to climb up the stairs to her dais, according to party leaders who attended the meeting.
The decision to name Akash her successor is being seen within the party as Mayawati (67) passing the baton to the next generation.
Atar Singh Rao, former MLC and the party’s in charge for West Bengal and Odisha, told ThePrint that “Behen ji” was let down by party leaders whom she relied on to revive the party. “Many were made vice presidents but could not deliver on time and fulfill their responsibilities. Then he (Akash) caught her eye and seemed perfect for the role,” he said.
Hinting at Mayawati’s age, Rao added that he was of the opinion that she does not want the Bahujan movement to lose steam, which is why she declared her successor “in time”.
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New face of ‘Bahujan mission’
It was clear for some time now that Akash Anand was being groomed for a bigger role. His responsibilities grew manifold after he was appointed national coordinator, following the defeat of the SP-BSP alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
“Behen ji said he (Akash) will look after states where the party is weak, except UP and Uttarakhand,” BSP leader Udayveer Singh said, after the meeting Sunday.
Bhimrao Ambedkar, a former MLC and MLA, added, “He (Akash) is the national coordinator, he will go wherever Behen ji feels his requirement. Young BSP workers across the country are waiting for him and he will be welcomed enthusiastically wherever he goes.”
“The Bahujan mission got a new lease of life today. Behen ji works for 18 hours but people still point fingers. When Akash will start working, it will lead to a sense of renewed enthusiasm among workers,” he added.
Timeline of contradictions
Mayawati has always denied promoting her family members within the party. In 2007 and then again in 2019, she made public declarations that her successor would not be a member of her family.
In 2018, she announced that her brother Anand Kumar — Akash Anand’s father and a low-profile businessman before he turned to politics — had offered to serve the BSP without taking on any organisational role, even as she remembered her mentor Kanshi Ram’s commitment to not let his kin claim his political legacy.
However, by 2017, Mayawati had already appointed her brother as vice president of the party on the condition that he would never fight elections. In 2018, Anand Kumar was relieved of that responsibility amid allegations of nepotism. The decision was preceded by inquiries about him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax department.
However, her brother and nephew were back in the top echelons of the party when she appointed them as vice president and national coordinator, respectively, in June 2019.
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Convinced Mayawati to join Twitter
According to party leaders, Akash Anand is the man behind the party’s social media presence and is credited for convincing the BSP chief to join ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
“He has been working for the party’s social media and his work has been good in the past. It is possible that people didn’t know about him till he became a well-known figure in party circles. But his involvement increased when he was made national coordinator. He was working even before, but his work was not highlighted,” said Bhasker.
Akash’s growing role in the party became clearer after the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections when Mayawati said she would send him to different parts of the state to gather genuine feedback about work done by the party. Similarly, Akash was spotted overseeing poll preparations on the ground in the recently-concluded assembly elections.
By the time Mayawati travelled to poll-bound Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, days before polling day, Akash had already been reviewing poll preparations in both states.
In August, when the BSP launched the 14-day “Sarvajana Hitay Sarvajan Sukhay Sankalp Yatra,” from Dholpur to Jaipur, Akash managed the event and addressed several public meetings in as many as 100 assembly constituencies across Rajasthan.
“He (Akash) visited different parts of MP in the run-up to the assembly polls and would pass on Behen ji’s directives to workers on the ground,” said a leader from the BSP’s Madhya Pradesh unit.
‘Akash does not have an aura yet’
Political experts said the BSP chief’s announcement Sunday is indication that she has made up her mind to retire. Shashikant Pandey, Head of Department, political science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, told ThePrint that Mayawati may have realised that her political career has already peaked.
“Just like Mulayam Singh Yadav passed on the baton to son Akhilesh and others have done in the past, she too must have realised that it was time to pass on the baton to the next generation. She may have felt this is the right time to anoint her successor, thinking that he is a young face and may help the BSP’s declining fortunes in the state,” he said.
Pandey, however, added that Akash Anand’s appointment was different because Kanshi Ram always said that no one from his family would be his political successor and Mayawati, too, had made statements to that effect.
“However, while older workers who worship their leader may like her decision, the younger lot in the party may question it thinking that Mayawati is no different. They may feel that the party that rose on the plank of social justice did nothing different,” he said.
Suggesting that the transfer of power may have little impact on the party’s fortunes, he added: “While transfer of power from Mulayam to Akhilesh was gradual, Akash remained hidden from public view for a long time. He did not cover the length and breadth of the state nor was he seen in public rallies as is seen in the case of other politicians.”
“Akash Anand does not have an aura as of now and his accessibility is not wide,” he said, adding that not many BSP workers are familiar with the 28-year-old.
“It is hard to say that he would be able to connect with people. Accessibility will take time,” Pandey told ThePrint.
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What this means for political equations in UP
According to Pandey, given BSP’s flailing electoral fortunes, especially in the state where it rode to power with a majority in 2007 — which is also the state that sends more MPs to the Lok Sabha than any other — is likely to remain a bipolar one, with the BJP and its allies on one side and the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its alliance partners on the other.
“The BSP is likely to be cornered in the coming polls as well because Muslims have parted ways from it and the majority of them side with SP. So this announcement will most likely not amount to any big changes as far as state politics is concerned,” he said.
The BSP failed to win any mayoral seats in the 2022 municipal elections, compared to the two it won in 2017. And in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, it was reduced to just one seat, marking its worst electoral showing since 1991.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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