On 10th December (Sunday), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati named 28-year-old nephew Akash Anand as her successor. The announcement was made at the party meeting held in Lucknow on Sunday. The meeting was presided over by Mayawati, and she was accompanied by her nephew Akash Anand. It was called to plan the party’s preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha 2024 polls.
Speaking with ANI about the party meeting, BSP leader Udayveer Singh said, “BSP chief Mayawati has announced Akash Anand as her successor.”
#WATCH | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh | Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Udayveer Singh says, "BSP chief Mayawati has announced Akash Anand (Mayawati's nephew) as her successor…" pic.twitter.com/nT1jmAMI29
— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2023
Reacting to the development, BSP UP president Vishwnath Pal said, “The whole ‘Bahujan Samaj’ is happy.”
VIDEO | "The whole 'Bahujan Samaj' is happy," says BSP UP president @PalVishwnathbsp in response to a media query on Mayawati declaring her nephew Akash Anand as her successor. pic.twitter.com/8lsYijAcEk
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 10, 2023
Notably, Akash Anand is the son of Mayawati’s younger brother, Anand Kumar. Currently, Akash holds the official position of BSP’s national coordinator. As per his official X account, he describes himself as “A young supporter of Baba Saheb’s vision”.
For several years now, he was perceived as the successor of BSP Supremo. It was considered that he would succeed the incumbent BSP Supremo as the party President, as he was also said to be in charge of party affairs since last year.
Akash Anand joined the Bahujan Samaj Party in 2016. During the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, he was listed as one of the star campaigners for his party. He held major responsibilities in the recently concluded four state assembly elections, particularly in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The party gained success to a considerable extent in holding its support base and secured two seats in Rajasthan.
Anand’s visibility within the BSP circle, along with his padayatra in Rajasthan’s Alwar in 2022, elevated his prominence. These reports of his elevation further gained momentum within the party, as they look ahead to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which are now just five months away.
For those unversed, on the birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar in 2022, 28-year-old Akash Anand participated in a 13-km “Swabhiman Sankalp Yatra” in Alwar. He was actively involved in BSP’s election campaign in Rajasthan in 2019, rallying support for the Samajwadi Party-BSP-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance.
Earlier, he also led the party’s 14-day ‘Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay Sankalp Yatra’.
He came into the media spotlight when Mayawati announced the inclusion of her nephew in the Bahujan Samaj Party movement. His debut political rally took place in 2019, where he urged voters to support the Samajwadi Party-BSP-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance. It coincided with a 48-hour campaign ban imposed on Mayawati by the Election Commission.
