Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati with her nephew Akash Anand arrives for a meeting of party's office bearers ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, at the party office in Lucknow, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023.
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: With the BSP at its nadir in the Uttar Pradesh electoral politics, Akash Anand, party supremo Mayawati's political heir, will have his task cut out as he will be inheriting the party at a time when there are hardly any old leaders left in it.
Akash, who was the son of Mayawati's younger brother Anand Kumar, completed MBA from a college in London and was introduced into politics by Mayawati in 2017 at a public meeting at Saharanpur.
According to the sources in the BSP, Akash's appointment for the top post in the party was intended to blunt the influence of firebrand Dalit leader and Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar alias Ravan, who had succeeded in making a dent into Mayawati's core vote bank of Dalits, especially in the western UP districts of Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat and others.
''Akash is a young leader....his appeal goes beyond castes...he will be able to bring the youths to the party fold,'' said BSP leader Surendra Singh.
Singh said that Chandrashekhar's party had put up its candidates in the recently held Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan but it failed to win even a single seat in the two states. ''The polls in MP and Rajasthan proved that Chandrashkehar did not have the support of the Dalits,'' he added.
Akash had played an active role in the state in 2019 Lok Sabha polls and also oversaw the BSP's social media campaign in the 2022 Assembly polls in UP.
Sources said that some major reshuffle could be expected in the BSP in the days to come. ''There are chances that young faces will be given more responsibilities by the new leadership,'' said another senior BSP leader while speaking to DH here.
The leader also said that the party would take care of the caste equations as well while making key appointments in the organisation.