By removing her nephew Akash Anand as the party’s national coordinator and successor, and emphasising she would continue to handle party affairs till she was alive, Bahjuan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Sunday sent across a strong message to her party colleagues. But the move also casts doubt on the party’s future at a time when it is struggling to arrest its electoral slide and remain politically relevant.
What message did Mayawati want to send?
The BSP president wanted to underline that the organisation and the Bahujan movement it claims to lead are supreme and not even her family is above it. Sources said after the elevating Akash to national coordinator in 2019 and appointing her brother Anand Kumar, Akash’s father, as the BSP vice-president, Mayawati faced allegations of nepotism. The criticism came from both within the party and rival parties. What may have ultimately forced her hand, party insiders said, was that a section of the party’s old guard was not comfortable with Akash’s increasing role in the party.
The BSP chief on Sunday appointed Anand Kumar and reinstated Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Gautam as national coordinator, a post that he held till 2022. While Anand Kumar will largely camp in Delhi, look after paperwork, and meet workers, Gautam will travel across India and will be in charge of implementing Mayawati’s directives, according to BSP insiders.
Where does Akash Anand go from here?
The future of Mayawati’s one-time heir is uncertain after the second sacking in as many years. However, a party leader expressed hope that he would bounce back. “Akash is young. We are hopeful that he will bounce back and will get the important position in the party because we need a young leader to attract the youth.”
The party has been on a steady decline for years now, with its voting percentage eroding slowly. The party failed to open its account in the Lok Sabha polls last year despite contesting from 488 seats across India, including 79 in UP, in a repeat of its 2014 show. The party’s vote share dipped to 2.04% nationally and 9.39% in UP. The BSP had won 10 seats in UP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the SP and RLD. In UP, where the party is based, the BSP won only one Assembly seat in the 2022 state polls. Besides, its vote share dipped to 12.88% from 22.23% in 2017, when it won 19 seats.
Though Akash was drafted in after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he failed to bring the party back on track. In the recent Delhi Assembly elections, in which Akash was in charge, the party failed to have any impact and its vote share too declined. The party also failed to make much headway in states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana where he supervised the party’s efforts.