India: BSP chief Mayawati chooses nephew Akash Anand as her political successor. Who is he?
BSP Mayawati and Akash Anand
TheBahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and former chief minister of the Indian state ofUttar Pradesh,Mayawati, on Sunday (Dec 10) chose her nephew Akash Anand as her successor. According to reports, aside from the Indian states ofUttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Anand will represent BSP in the rest of the country.
Anand had been seen as someone who wouldsucceed the BSP president as the party leader and was said to bein charge of party affairs since last year. He is the son of Mayawati'syounger brotherAnand Kumar.
Mayawati’s successor
The announcement was made at the party meeting in Lucknow, the capitalof Uttar Pradesh. “BSP chief Mayawati has announced Akash Anand as her successor,” party leader Udayveer Singh told news agency ANI.
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He also said that Mayawati would “continue to lead the party in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and Anand ji will lead the party in other states.”
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The meeting, as per an official party statement released on Saturday (Dec 9), said the BSP would analyse its performance in the recently concluded assembly polls in three states – Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
The announcement comes ahead of the Indian general elections next year. The BSP has also reportedly discussed the selection of candidates for the upcoming elections at the meeting on Sunday.
Who is Akash Anand?
The announcement about Anand taking over BSP’s reins from the former UP chief minister was long anticipated as he was second in the list of the party’s star campaigners during the Himachal Pradesh assembly election.
Mayawati’s nephew also played a crucial role as the BSP’s in-charge for the recently held assembly polls in the Indian state of Rajasthan and also worked in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.
Anand entered Indian politics in 2017 at the age of 22 and now holds the position of BSP's national coordinator.Heis an MBA graduate from London.
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During the last general elections, in 2019, he managed the election campaign strategy of the BSP chief with his first poll campaign in Rajasthan. Anand was made national coordinator of the BSP in 2019 after Mayawati rejigged the party organisation after breaking its alliance with the Samajwadi Party.
The now 28-year-oldhas since August been regularly spotted in BSP’s state-level review meetings in Lucknow indicating his position as an important member of the party ahead of the 2024 elections.
Earlier this year, Anand also led the party’s 14-day, 3,000-kilometre, ‘Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay Sankalp Yatra’ in the Indian state of Rajasthan where he called upon the citizens to align their principles with Dr BR Ambedkar and advance the nation towards a more equitable future.
On Instagram, he calls himself a “young supporter of Baba Saheb’s vision. I stand for Education, Empowerment, and Equality.”
(With inputs from agencies)