Now A Dynasty In BSP Too: Reports From Latest Party Meet Say Mayawati Declared Her Nephew Akash Anand As Successor

Mayawati, the chief of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has reportedly appointed her 28-year-old nephew, Akash Anand as her political successor, despite the party's poor performance in the recently held state assembly elections.

Notably, he was designated as the joint coordinator for the assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh in June 2023. However, the party didn't perform well in these states.

In Rajasthan, BSP's seats came down from six to two and its vote share was down from 4.03 per cent to 1.82 per cent. Similarly, its vote share in Madhya Pradesh dipped from 5.01 per cent to 3.4 per cent and the party couldn't win a single seat there, contrary to two seats in 2018.

Chhattisgarh witnessed a similar scenario where BSP couldn't win a single seat contrary to two seats in the last elections and its vote share came down from 3.9 per cent to 2 per cent. Telangana has a negligible presence of BSP with only 1.37 per cent vote share.

According to the Times of India, the declaration was made at a nationwide meeting of the BSP in Lucknow on Sunday (10 December). While this announcement will end the long-standing speculation about the future leadership of the party, its timing might not be good.

BSP was founded by Kanshi Ram on 14 April 1984, which is BR Ambedkar's birthday, and in 2001, he designated Mayawati as his successor. They were not related to each other by blood.

However, Mayawati decided to maintain control of the BSP within her family, making the party the latest addition to the list of dynastic parties.

Akash, who holds an MBA degree from an institute in London, UK, actively embarked on his political journey in 2017. In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, he was 22 but began his active involvement in the party by attending public meetings with Mayawati.

Fast forward to January 2019, when the SP and BSP formed a pre-poll alliance, Akash was there with BSP national general secretary SC Mishra to welcome SP president Akhilesh Yadav during his visit to Mayawati's residence in Lucknow.

He was later offered the role of vice president within the party, a position he initially turned down out of worries about accusations of nepotism.

Akash's participation heightened in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when he spoke at an election rally in Agra on behalf of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance candidate during Mayawati's 48-hour campaign ban. He was later assigned the role of national coordinator for the party in a reorganisation that took place following the Lok Sabha elections in May 2019.

Akash is son of Mayawati's brother and BSP vice president Anand Kumar. Even though he did not hold any official role in the BSP until 2017, he has always been actively participating in the party's activities.

In 2022, he single-handedly took over the role of national coordinator, a duty that was previously divided. The marriage of Akash to Dr Pragya Siddharth, the daughter of ex-BSP MP Dr Ashok Siddharth, in March, attracted substantial notice, highlighting the increasing interest in the rising leader.