Akash Anand, 28, is the son of BSP chief Mayawati’s brother Anand Kumar. He was formally launched to the occasion staff in September 2017. (PTI/File)
Akash Anand’s appointment as BSP supremo Mayawati’s successor comes with the main duty of rebuilding the occasion’s base in UP, the place Dalits account for round 20% of the inhabitants
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati ended hypothesis on the future of her occasion on Sunday, formally naming nephew Akash Anand as her political successor. Sources advised News18 that the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister introduced Anand as her successor at the BSP’s national-level assembly held in Lucknow. the choice was taken
Though Mayawati will proceed to watch the occasion’s affairs in UP and Uttarakhand as earlier than, the announcement created ripples in the state’s political circles wherein the BSP holds a significance place regardless of its poor run at the polls.
Senior BSP leaders say Mayawati’s assertion was anticipated given 28-year-old Akash Anand’s regular rise in the occasion. Akash is the son of Mayawati’s brother Anand Kumar. “Akash was recently given the crucial post of party coordinator. He used to hold meetings with the party leaders of other states. He used to hold a different stature in the party,” a senior BSP chief advised News18 on situation of anonymity.
Who is Akash Anand
According to BSP insiders, Mayawati started grooming her nephew Akash for a management function forward of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Akash Anand and his father Anand Kumar had been formally launched to the occasion staff in September 2017.
Akash’s political journey started thereafter and he turned extra politically energetic in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, a day after the Election Commission banned Mayawati from campaigning for 48 hours, Akash took to the stage and addressed his first rally, urging individuals to vote for the SP-BSP-RLD alliance. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav after which RLD president Ajit Singh additionally joined him on stage.
Just a few weeks after the alliance’s defeat, Mayawati appointed him the occasion’s nationwide coordinator and tasked him with reaching out to the youth, particularly these from the Dalit group, and bringing them into the BSP fold.
Akash’s Rise in the BSP
Akash Anand’s rising stature in the occasion turned extra evident throughout the just lately held Assembly elections when he was made in-charge of the poll-bound states, with explicit emphasis on Rajasthan. “Mayawati is not known for holding street shows or taking out yatras. But, in a clean break from BSP’s past, Akash took out a 14-day yatra – the ‘Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay Sankalp Yatra’ — in Rajasthan to drum up support for the BSP,” the senior chief quoted earlier identified.
Akash addressed the yatra at completely different factors because it travelled throughout 100 Assembly constituencies, overlaying 3,000 km. The constituencies additionally included the six seats the occasion received in 2018 — all of its MLAs later joined the Congress — and 9 seats the place its candidates completed as runners-up. The yatra started from Dholpur and concluded in Jaipur on August 29, overlaying 33 districts.
The Challenges Ahead
Akash Anand’s appointment as the BSP supremo’s successor comes with the main duty of rebuilding the occasion’s base in UP, the place Dalits account for round 20% of the inhabitants. In the BSP’s glory days, Dalits had been its conventional voters. However, over the years, the occasion’s efficiency has slipped drastically.
In 2007, the occasion received 206 seats in the 403-member Assembly and fashioned the state authorities with Mayawati as the chief minister. In 2012, it was ousted from energy by the Samajwadi Party, successful simply 80 seats.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP didn’t win a single seat in the Lower House of Parliament. In the 2017 Assembly elections, its tally plummeted additional to 19 seats, with 22.2% vote share.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP partnered with the SP to type an anti-BJP ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) together with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). The alliance, nonetheless, failed to depart a mark and secured simply 15 seats, whereas the BJP received 62 of the 80 seats. In the alliance, BSP’s vote share was 19.43%, whereas SP and RLD vote share was 18.11% and 1.69%, respectively.
In the 2022 Assembly elections, the occasion received only one seat and its vote share dropped to 12.88%.
