India: BSP chief Mayawati chooses nephew Akash Anand as her political successor

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati named nephew Akash Anand as her successor and the national coordinator a month after removing him from a key party post.

"BSP chief Mayawati has announced Akash Anand, (Mayawati's nephew) as her successor. Akash Anand will take charge as the national coordinator," BSP leader Lal Ji Medhankar told news agency ANI.

Mayawati had removed Anand from the position of national coordinator and her 'political successor' in the month of May "until he attained full maturity" stating that the decision was in the "larger interest" of the party.

"It is known that BSP, besides being a party, is also a movement for self-respect and self-esteem of Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and social change for which Shri Kanshi Ram ji and I have dedicated our entire lives and a new generation is also being prepared to give it momentum," the former UP CM had wrote in a post on X.

The move came after the party's woeful defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections where BSP scored a zilch, demonstrating a sharp decline from the 2019 polls where it won 10 seats.

BSP to ‘carefully’ weigh into Muslim representation in upcoming elections: Mayawati

Earlier this month, the BSP president said that despite giving a "proper representation" to the Muslims in the elections, the community failed to understand the party.

She further stated that going forward BSP will ponder over giving the community an electoral opportunity in the upcoming elections so that it doesn't suffer such a loss.

Mayawati released a statement saying that her party will do a "deep analysis" of the defeat and will take the necessary steps in the party's interest.

"The Muslim community, which is an important part of the Bahujan Samaj Party, is not able to understand the BSP properly despite being given proper representation in the past elections and this time also in the Lok Sabha general elections," Mayawati said.

"So, in such a situation, the party will give them a chance in the elections after a lot of thought so that the party does not suffer a huge loss in the future like this time," she added.

(With inputs from agencies)