BSP chief Mayawati reinstates nephew Akash Anand as successor

Lucknow: Forty seven days after calling him immature and sacking him as her political heir and her party's national coordinator, BSP supremo Mayawati on Sunday reinstated her nephew Akash Anand as both and hinted at a major rejig in the BSP organisation in the wake of its dismal performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Mayawati had a day before made him (Anand) one of the star campaigners of her party in the forthcoming assembly elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand.

The BSP supremo made this announcement at a Meeting of the party's national office bearers here on Sunday in which Anand was also present. He was seen touching the feet of Mayawati.

Mayawati said at the meeting that the BSP would contest the by-polls on ten assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. These seats have fallen vacant after the sitting MLAs were elected to the LS.

"We will contest from wherever we are strong" said senior BSP leader Lalji Medhankar who was present in the meeting.

Sources said that Mayawati told party leaders not to lose heart by its poor performance in the polls and hinted at a major organisational reshuffle in the party.

Mayawati had, in December last year, appointed Akash Anand as the party's national coordinator and her political heir at a meeting of the party office bearers here. In May however, Mayawati sacked him as her political heir and the party's national coordinator saying that he was not ''fully matured''.

In a post then on 'X' (formerly Twitter), Mayawati had said that the decision to remove Akash Anand as party's national coordinator and her political heir had been taken keeping in view the larger interest of the 'movement' (Mayawati calls her party a movement).

BSP leaders had then said that Mayawati was not happy with the utterances of her nephew at his rallies in UP during the recently concluded LS polls. Akash had been booked after he compared the BJP with the Talibans at an election meeting in Sitapur district.

BSP sources said that the decision to bring back Anand might have been prompted by the rise of Azad Samaj Party president and dalit leader Chandrashekhar alias Ravan. Chandrashekhar had won from Bijnore LS seat as an independent candidate defeating his nearest BJP rival. The BSP was relegated to the fourth place there.

BSP, which had won ten seats in the state in the 2019 LS poll, failed to open its account in the 2024 LS poll and its candidates finished in third place in most of the constituencies. BSP secured around nine per cent votes in the recent LS elections.