NEW DELHI: BSP national president Mayawati, in an all-India party meeting in Lucknow on Sunday, announced that nobody would be her successor in the party while she is alive. With this, she relieved her nephew, Akash Anand, of the twin responsibilities he previously held—being Mayawati‘s political successor and the BSP’s national coordinator.
Her decision came just days after she expelled senior party leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Siddharth, who is also Akash Anand’s father-in-law, for factionalism.
On Sunday, she stated that Akash Anand’s political career had been affected by his father-in-law, as he may still be exerting influence on him through his daughter, Pragya, Akash Anand’s wife.
She reinstated Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Gautam as the party’s national coordinator, a position he held until 2019. He will now share the role with Mayawati’s younger brother, Anand Kumar.
Regarding her political successor, she reiterated that there would be none while she is alive.
This is the second time Akash Anand has been stripped of his responsibilities. The first instance was in May last year, during the Lok Sabha elections. However, in July, Mayawati reinstated him in both roles.