Mayawati reinstates nephew Akash Anand as her successor
Akash Anand was sacked from the BSP's national coordinator post in May.
BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday reinstated her nephew Akash Anand on the post of the party's national coordinator and announced him as her political successor. The decision was announced during a meeting of the party's office bearers in Lucknow.
In May this year, Akash Anand was removed from the post of national coordinator and as her successor. Announcing her decision, Mayawati had written on X that he was being removed from the posts till he attained political maturity.
In a series of social media posts on X in May, Mayawati had reaffirmed the party's commitment to the ideals of Dr BR Ambedkar and the “ongoing movement for social change”. She said Akash Anand was appointed as BSP's national coordinator and was declared her successor for providing momentum to this movement.
“But in the larger interest of the party and the movement, he is being removed from both these important responsibilities until he attains full maturity,” she had said.
The decision to remove him had surprised the poll pundits. She had not assigned any reason for removing Akash Anand from the post.
Akash Anand became the national coordinator of the BSP in 2019 when Mayawati rejigged the party's organisation after cutting ties with the Samajwadi Party.
Akash Anand was named Mayawati's successor in December last year.
During the Lok Sabha election, Akash Anand was booked for violating the Model Code of Conduct for using objectionable language at a poll rally in Uttar Pradesh.
"This government is a bulldozer government and a government of traitors. The party that leaves its youth hungry and enslaves its elderly is a terrorist government. Taliban runs such a government in Afghanistan," the BSP leader had said.
Mayawati's BSP, which won 10 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general elections, failed to open its account in the 2024 general elections. Her former ally, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party emerged as the single-largest party in Uttar Pradesh after winning 37 Lok Sabha seats.