Where has Mayawati brought BSP, is removing Akash a suicidal step?
#News Bureau March 4,2025
Last year in June, when BSP supremo Mayawati first made her nephew and successor Akash Anand the national coordinator of the party, she removed him from the post within a month. At that time it was believed that Mayawati was now taking steps to revive the party. But on March 2, when Mayawati once again removed Akash from the post and ended all responsibilities, it was seen as a crisis on the existence of BSP. Is this being called a suicidal step of Mayawati? This step of hers is raising many questions. UP needs a strong Dalit leadership at this time, but instead of moving in that direction, Mayawati is doing something else.
Akash Anand has come with an MBA degree from abroad. Strong possibilities were seen in him as Mayawati’s successor. BSP workers also started liking Akash, but at the same time Mayawati got rid of her nephew.
Why was Akash Anand removed
In her statement on Sunday, Mayawati had accused Akash Anand’s father-in-law Ashok Siddharth of creating divisions by creating factions within the party. Mayawati has said that this weakened the organisational strength of the BSP. She has cited recent events including the events surrounding her son’s wedding as examples of his efforts to weaken the party. She said that this was unacceptable and that is why he was expelled from the party.
Mayawati had said that it was necessary to remove Akash Anand, as her father-in-law had a lot of influence on him. She said that Siddharth’s actions had started influencing Anand’s political outlook in a way that was not in the best interests of the party. Holding Siddharth completely responsible, she claimed that he not only harmed the BSP, but also derailed Akash Anand’s political career. However, Mayawati did not say the best interests of the party. However, Akash Anand had made many statements against the BJP and PM Modi which were a topic of discussion among the youth cadre of the BSP. Akash’s statements were not liked by the high command i.e. Mayawati.
The future of Mayawati’s one-time successor is uncertain, as he has been removed for the second time in a row. However, some BSP leaders are hoping that Akash will make a comeback. He will get an important position in the party. Because BSP also needs a young leader to attract Dalit youth. But these things are good to say. But the way the party is continuously declining, it will not be revived by giving a position to any young leader.
The party has been facing a steady decline over the years. Its vote percentage is gradually declining. In last year’s Lok Sabha elections, the party failed to win a single seat despite contesting 488 seats, including 79 seats in Uttar Pradesh. It was a repeat of its 2014 performance. The party’s vote share fell to 2.04% nationally and 9.39% in Uttar Pradesh. The BSP had won 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the SP and RLD in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the UP assembly elections, the BSP won just one seat in 2022. Moreover, its vote share fell to 12.88% from 22.23% in 2017. It had won 19 seats in 2017.
How will the BSP bring Dalit youth to its side? This is the big question. A large section of whom have become disillusioned with the party and are attracted to leaders like Chandrashekhar Azad of the Azad Samaj Party (KSP). Will Mayawati herself play a more active role in the party after removing Akash? This is the big question on everyone’s mind in the party. Mayawati had allowed Akash to give media interviews and hold a tour in Rajasthan (before the 2023 assembly elections) and Madhya Pradesh (2023) and Delhi (2024) before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Will she, as the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, take to the streets, address rallies and public meetings? If she has to inspire the workers and give them direction in the upcoming electoral battle, she may have to do so. Uttar Pradesh is going to have elections in 2027. But why did Mayawati not do this in the 2022 assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
While taking action against Akash, Mayawati cited the legacy of the party’s founder and her mentor Kanshi Ram, who had also taken action against his sister and niece during an election in Punjab. But Kanshi Ram’s sister and niece were not as aggressive as Akash Anand. There is a huge difference between the political situation of that time and today.
Mayawati’s action against Akash was strange on some occasions. In May 2023, Akash Anand had only said in a rally in Sitapur, UP that BJP is a party of terrorists. Mayawati sacked Akash from the post of National Coordinator of BSP the very next day. Note that she did not remove Akash, but dismissed him. But within a month, when the party workers gave her feedback that Akash’s speeches were being liked among the Dalit youth, Mayawati brought Akash back again.
Even today, it is said about Mayawati’s action that she had taken action against Akash under pressure from BJP. This action of Mayawati further cemented her image as one who works at the behest of BJP. Many opposition parties allege that it was because of Mayawati that BJP paved the way for Dalits in UP. She goes to all the states to make BSP contest elections, which benefits BJP.
Who has the legacy of Kanshi Ram
It is being said that with this action, Mayawati has given a message to the Dalits that she is the true successor of Kanshi Ram’s legacy. And to save the party, she will do so even if she has to take action against her own family members. But Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, who is very popular among Dalit youth, is another leader who has described himself as the successor of Kanshi Ram’s political legacy. He often refers to the BSP founder and uses his pictures and statements.
The Samajwadi Party, which is trying to increase its vote base and get out of the image of a “Muslim-Yadav” party, has also tried to connect with Dalits by paying tribute to Kanshi Ram on his birth and death anniversaries. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party benefited greatly from a large part of the Dalit votes coming to it and it has also emerged as the largest party in Uttar Pradesh with 37 seats
Mayawati has only removed a young leader from the party by taking action against Akash Anand, even before this her actions have been strange. Swami Prasad Maurya, who was once one of Mayawati’s closest people, was expelled from the party by Mayawati. Naseemuddin Siddiqui, who used to handle the party’s funds, was removed by accusing him. She brought Imran Masood into the party but Mayawati expelled him by accusing him of indiscipline. Dalit leader of Purvanchal R.K. Chaudhary was also expelled from the party. Mayawati fielded Guddu Jamali from Azamgarh so that SP loses from there. After the elections, Jamali himself went to SP. These are not just names but people who took BSP’s politics to new heights in their respective areas.
