In December last year, Mayawati announced Akash Anand as her successor and entrusted him with the important responsibility of the party’s national coordinator. At a recent election rally, Anand called the BJP government a “government of traitors”.
Akash Anand. (Photo Courtesy: X/@AnandAkash_BSP)
New Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati on Tuesday announced that she will drop her nephew Akash Anand as her political successor and national coordinator of the party “until he comes of age”. Barely six months ago, the BSP chief made him his successor.
Mayawati announced her decision on Tuesday (May 7), The Indian Express reported. Ten days earlier, Akash and other party leaders were booked by the Sitapur police in Uttar Pradesh on charges of allegedly promoting hatred and enmity, among other charges under provisions of the IPC and the Representation of the People Act.
In the video, Akash was seen calling the BJP government a “government of traitors” and talking about hitting the leaders of other parties with shoes and slippers who sought votes from the people.
According to a Hindustan Times report, he slammed the BJP-led state government and said, “This BJP government is a bulldozer government and a government of traitors. A party that starves its youth and enslaves its elders is a terrorist government. Such a government in Afghanistan is led by the Taliban.
For this reason, sections 171C (improperly influencing elections), 153B (accusation, making claims prejudicial to national unity) and 188 (disobedience of the law by a public official) were brought against him and the Representation of the People Act was registered under Section 125
After the case was registered on April 28, Akash returned to Delhi and all his rallies in various constituencies were cancelled.
In a social media post on May 7, Mayawati said, “It is clear that BSP is a party as well as a movement in honor of Baba Sahib Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and the movement for social change to which His Highness Shri Kanshi Ramji and I have dedicated our lives and the new generation is also getting ready to give it momentum.”
He said: “In the same regard, along with the support of other people in the party, he appointed Akash Anand as the national coordinator and his successor, but he was separated from these two important responsibilities until the wider interests of the party and the movement matured. .
He added that “his father Anand Kumar will continue to perform his duties in the party and the movement as before.”
Mayawati appointed Akash Anand as her successor in December last year and entrusted him with the important responsibility of the party’s national coordinator. He was actively involved in leading the party’s campaign in the Rajasthan assembly elections last year.
After Mayawati in the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha elections, he became the party’s chief campaigner and held around 20 election rallies before attacking the BJP in his April 28 Sitapur speech.
Mayawati, who has been a vocal critic of nepotism in politics, had earlier appointed her brother Anand Kumar as the party’s national vice-president in 2019 and made her nephew Akash the national coordinator.
The opposition raised questions about the removal of Akasha
According to a Hindustan Times report, Congress leader Surendra Singh Rajput said, “The manner in which BSP chief Mayawati removed her nephew Akash Anand from the post of party coordinator is very surprising. Did you take this step under any pressure from BJP? Although this is an internal matter for your party, you should issue an explanation.”
On the other hand, Samajwadi Party leader Fakhrul Hasan Chand claimed that the BSP and the BJP were in an “undeclared alliance”. He said, “The manner in which Akash Anand was removed from his post has been proven. People can see that and they will respond positively to it.”
At the same time, BJP leader Rakesh Tripathi targeted the BSP chief and said, “Mayawati runs the party as a private limited organization and can take any decision at any time. Akash Anand’s irresponsible remarks and his anti-BJP statements created anger against the BSP and Mayawati relieved her nephew of the duties of the party’s national coordinator.
