The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, announced her nephew Akash Anand as her successor in the party on Sunday, marking a momentous step. The declaration was made on Sunday during the Lucknow party gathering.
Akash Anand had been seen as someone who would succeed the BSP president as the party leader who was also said to be in charge of party affairs since last year. He is the son of Mayawati’s younger brother, Anand Kumar, who is perceived as next to the “behen ji” in the BSP.
Having joined the BSP in 2016, Anand was also listed as one of the star campaigners for his party during the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
Anand’s visibility in Mayawati’s party circle, coupled with his padayatra in Rajasthan’s Alwar in 2022, gained momentum in the party’s strategy ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, barely five months away. 31-year-old Anand participated in a 13-km “Swabhiman Sankalp Yatra” in Alwar on the birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar. He was also visible in BSP’s poll campaigning in Rajasthan in 2018 where BSP had secured six seats.
