LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati removed her nephew Akash Anand from the national coordinator post on Sunday.
She replaced Akash with her brother and Akash’s father, Anand Kumar. Senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Gautam was also appointed as the national coordinator of the party.
As per the BSP insiders, Anand Kumar will likely set up the party’s camp office in Delhi and Ramji Gautam will travel across the country to connect with the party’s supporters.
The BSP chief attributed the action against Akash Anand to his closeness with Ashok Siddharth, who was expelled from the party last month for indulging in ‘anti-party activities.’ Mayawati had also expelled his close aide Nitin Singh accusing of 'factionalism'.
Releasing a statement after taking the significant decision of replacing Akash with his father Anand, Mayawati said: “You are aware that Siddharth’s daughter is married to him (Akash). We will have to watch how much influence Siddharth will exert on his daughter as well as Akash."
"In such a situation, Akash has been removed from all party responsibilities. Siddharth is completely responsible for this and has damaged the party while ruining Akash’s career,” she added.
While announcing her decision to appoint new national coordinators, Mayawati said, “I will not announce my successor till my last breath and will continue to handle party affairs myself.”
Akash was conveyed of the decision of his removal from the post of national coordinator at a party meeting in Delhi on February 17, as per party insiders.
It was formally announced on Sunday at a meeting of senior leaders in Lucknow, where Akash was not present.
This has been the second time when Akash Anand, after being announced the ‘successor’ of her political legacy, has been chucked out by Mayawati.
He was removed from the post of the party’s national coordinator on May 7 amidst the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, stating that he needed more political maturity to represent the party on public platforms.
However, after the conclusion of the polls in which BSP failed to win a single seat in Uttar Pradesh, Akash was reinstated by Mayawati on June 23.
During the 2024 general elections, Akash was booked for ‘promoting enmity’ through his election rallies, especially the one held in Sitapur.
Akash was first appointed BSP national coordinator in 2019. Mayawati had introduced her second nephew and Akash’s younger brother Ishant Anand by bringing him forward on the party platform during her birthday celebrations on January 15.
Notably, the BSP party graph has been dwindling since 2012.