Why Mayawati sacked Akash Anand as her heir: BSP leader's recent controversy

BSP leader Akash Anand addresses a public meeting ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Agra on April 11.

Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party, in a surprise move, announced on Tuesday night the removal of her nephew Akash Anand from the position of national coordinator and her ‘political successor’, barely five months after she had anointed him. The BSP supremo, announcing it on X (formally Twitter), said she has taken the decision in the interest of the party and the movement till the time Anand gains “full maturity”.

Mayawati said her brother and Akash Anand’s father, Anand Kumar, will continue to fulfil his responsibilities as before.

In her series of X posts, while Mayawati didn’t mention the exact reason behind Akash Anand’s removal, the surprise decision came on the day voting was held for the third phase of the Lok Sabha election 2024 across the country.

What did Mayawati say about Akash Anand?

In a post in Hindi on X, Mayawati said, “The BSP is also a movement for self-respect and self-esteem of Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and social change for which Shri Kanshi Ram ji and I have dedicated our entire lives and a new generation is also being prepared to give it momentum.”

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She said, “In this direction, along with promoting other people in the party, I had declared Shri Akash Anand as the National Coordinator and his successor, but in the larger interest of the party and the movement, he is being divested of both these important responsibilities until he attains full maturity.”

Mayawati said Anand Kumar will continue to fulfil his responsibilities in the party and the movement as before.

“Therefore, the leadership of BSP is not going to shy away from making every kind of sacrifice in the interest of the party and the movement and in taking forward the caravan of Baba Saheb Dr Ambedkar,” Mayawati said in another post.

Who is Akash Anand?

1. Akash Anand studied MBA at an institute in London.
2. Akash made his debut speech during the Lok Sabha campaign on April 16, 2019, at Kothi Meena Bazar ground in Agra. Sharing the platform with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and then Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh, Akash garnered attention, particularly from BSP supporters, donned in a white shirt and jeans.
3. Expressing gratitude for the opportunity, he addressed the crowd, marked by chants of support from BSP followers. With his message capped off by ‘Jai Bhim’ and ‘Jai Bharat’, Akash earned accolades from senior alliance figures, including Akhilesh Yadav and Ajit Singh, who prominently mentioned him at the start of their speeches.
4. Three days later, on April 19, 2019, Akash was also part of the historic moment at Christian College ground in Mainpuri when SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati shared the stage after a gap of over two decades since the infamous guest house incident in Lucknow on June 2, 1995.
5. In the BSP national executive meeting held in June 2019, Mayawati had appointed him party’s national coordinator.
6. On her 66th birthday programme on January 15, 2022, Mayawati had said, “The BSP is preparing Akash Anand for bigger role in the party. He is young and gaining political maturity. The party has entrusted him with the task of spreading the base of the party in the states where assembly elections will be held later. During appropriate time, Akash will get the opportunity to contest the election.”
7. During the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the name of Akash Anand was at number three position on the list of BSP star campaigners but in the 2022 UP.assembly election, he was elevated to second position above party national general secretary SC Mishra.
8. On March 26, 2023, Akash was married to Pragya Siddharth, the daughter of former BSP MP Ashok Siddharth, at a ceremony in Gurugram.

When Akash Anand was booked for using objectionable language

On April 28, 2024, Akash Anand was booked in a case of violation of Model Code of Conduct along with four others for allegedly using objectionable language at a poll rally in Sitapur.

The action had come after the district administration’s took suo motu cognisance of Akash’s speech at the rally.

“This BJP 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,” he had said in criticism of the BJP-led state government.

Besides Anand, BSP candidates Mahendra Yadav, Shyam Awasthi, and Akshay Kalra and rally organiser Vikas Rajvanshi were booked in the matter, Superintendent of Police (Sitapur) Chakresh Mishra had then said.

The case was registered under sections IPC 171C (undue influence at elections), 153B (imputation, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and section 125 of the Representation of People Act.

Opposition questions Akash Anand’s removal

Congress leader Surendra Singh Rajput said, “The way BSP chief Mayawati has removed her nephew Akash Anand from party coordinator post is very shocking. Did you take this step under some pressure from the BJP? Though this is an internal matter of your party, you should issue a clarification about this.”

Samajwadi Party leader Fakhrul Hasan Chaand alleged that the BSP and the BJP are in an “undeclared alliance”, and the way Akash Anand was removed from his position has proved it. “People can see this, and they will give a befitting reply to it.”

BJP reacts

Taking a dig at the BSP chief, BJP leader Rakesh Tripathi said, “Mayawati runs the party like a private limited organisation, and she can make any decision anytime. Because of Akash Anand’s irresponsible remarks and his statements against the BJP, there was an anger among the people (against BSP), and that’s why Mayawati relieved her nephew of his responsibilities as the party’s national co-ordinator.”

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