Chandrashekhar Effect? Mayawati makes nephew Akash star campaigner for Punjab, Uttarakhand polls

Lucknow: In a decision, which appears to be aimed at countering the rise of firebrand Dalit leader and Lok Sabha MP Chandrashekhar alias Ravan, BSP supremo Mayawati, almost 45 days after sacking her nephew Akash Anand as her political heir and the party's national coordinator saying that he was not ''fully matured'', has made him (Anand) one of the star campaigners of her party in the forthcoming assembly elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand.

According to the sources in the BSP, Mayawati may make some 'important' announcement regarding the role of Akash Anand at the meeting of the BSP's national office bearers which is scheduled to be held here on Sunday. Sources said that Anand had a meeting with Mayawati at the latter's residence here last week.

Akash Anand's name appears at the second number after Mayawati in BSP's list of star campaigners for the two poll bound states.

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).

''Keeping this in mind, I had declared Akash Anand as the party's national coordinator and my political heir.....he is being relieved of both these responsibilities in the larger interest of the movement till he becomes fully matured,'' the BSP supremo said.

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.

Mayawati's rivals, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress had claimed that her decision had been taken under the pressure of the saffron party. BSP had often been dubbed as the 'B' team of BJP by the SP.

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.

''Anand's re-entry is aimed at countering Chandrashekhar's rise as a Dalit leader....Anand, like Chandrashekhar, is also young and is a good orator,'' said a BSP leader here while speaking to DH.

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.