By Pradeep Kapoor
LUCKNOW: Rising popularity within the party and dalit youth and anti-BJP stance forced BSP national President Mayawati to remove her nephew and successor Akash Anand from all party posts. Mayawati is so shaken by the emerging powerful group of Akash Anand and his father-in- law Ashok Sidharth, former MP, that she removed both of them and announced that she would not appoint anybody as her successor.
The popularity of London educated nephew Akash Anand is evident from his lakhs of followers in social media and huge turn-out at his meetings. Akash Anand was emerging as future leader of dalit aspiration with mass contact and vision to bring about change in the party and the organisation. He was constantly guided by his father-in-law Ashok Sidharth who had held important position in the party and also had been member of Rajya Sabha.
Akash Anand son of Mayawati’s brother Anand was married to Dr Pragya daughter of Ashok Sidharth. As a result the team of Akash Anand and Ashok Sidharth was emerging very powerful and parallel to Mayawati.
BSP national President realised that if no action was taken now, then the team of Akash Anand and Ashok Sidharth could divide the party at the national level and ultimately damage her own position in the party.
To begin with, Mayawati expelled Ashok Sidharth for promoting groupism in the party and indulging in anti-party activities. Then she took action against Akash Anand and removed him from all party posts and the position of her successor. Mayawati announced that she would not announce anybody as her successor till she was alive.
Mayawati had earlier also removed her nephew Akash Anand from the position of her successor during Lok Sabha polls when he launched scathing attack against BJP. But after a month or so Mayawati brought back Akash Anand and made him her successor and restored his position as national coordinator.
It would be worth mentioning here that Mayawati brought her nephew Akash Anand into limelight after 2017 assembly polls and made him national coordinator after collapse of SP-BSP alliance after 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
After removing Ashok Sidharth and his son-in-law Akash Anand, Mayawati appointed her brother Anand, vice president of BSP, as national coordinator. She also appointed another dalit leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Ji Gautam as national coordinator. So after Mayawati the most powerful person in the party is her brother Anand.
It would be worth mentioning here that Mayawati had removed all senior leaders who were with founder Kanshiram and were considered powerful in the party. Persons like Swami Prasad Maurya, Nasimuddin Siddiqui, Ram Achal Rajbhar, Brijesh Pathak, Indrajit Saroj enjoyed key positions in the party but Mayawati removed them.
It may be noted BSP was founded by dalit thinker Kashiram and he was instrumental in making Mayawati as CM with the help of BJP. In 2007 BSP came to power on its own and Mayawati became CM.
After 2012 assembly polls, BSP registered sharp decline in vote share and exodus of senior leaders and workers. Mayawati’s experiment of alliance with arch rival Samajwadi Party in 2019 also miserably failed.
The political commentators feel that Mayawati is under tremendous pressure that is why she always attacks Samajwadi Party and Congress. When her nephew Akash Anand launched attack on BJP in last Lok Sabha polls, he was removed from all positions. (IPA Service)
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