Mayawati reinstates nephew Akash Anand as successor, BSP coordinator
Mayawati says she is hopeful Akash will emerge as a “mature” leader and party will also encourage him by “giving him more respect and honour than before”
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati has once again declared nephew Akash Anand as her successor and made him the party’s national coordinator, reversing her previous decision.
In the middle of the Lok Sabha elections on May 7, she had termed Akash “immature” and relieved him of the party post.
“Mayawati’s only successor”
After a national-level meeting at the BSP state office in Lucknow on Sunday (June 23), the party said in a statement it was handing Akash Anand his former responsibilities back.
“The BSP’s national president Mayawati has once again given Akash Anand a chance to work in the party with full maturity. He will continue to hold all his posts in the party as before.
“That is, he will remain Mayawati’s only successor along with being the party’s national coordinator,” the statement read.
“Wil get more respect”
Mayawati, a former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, said she is hopeful her nephew will emerge as a “mature” leader.
“I am hopeful about him (Akash Anand) that now he will definitely emerge as a fully mature leader at every level in the interest of his party and movement. The people of the party will also now encourage him by giving him more respect and honour than before, so that now he can live up to all my expectations in future,” she said in a statement.
Wait for “full maturity”
The BSP chief had announced Akash Anand as her “successor” in December last year. She revoked her decision after the third phase of Lok Sabha elections.
The former chief minister had then said she had taken the decision in the interest of the party and the movement till Anand attained “full maturity”.
Akash Anand was booked for violation of the Model Code of Conduct for allegedly using “objectionable” language in an election rally in Sitapur.
Dismal poll show
The BSP, which contested the Lok Sabha elections on its own, did not win a single of the 80 seats in UP this time, while emerging Dalit leader and Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief Chandrashekhar Azad won the Nagina (reserved) seat in Bijnor district.
The BSP had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party and won 10 seats in the state.
(With agency inputs)
