Akash Anand: Handpicked by Mayawati, cut as swiftly to size by her

Last month, in one of his first poll rallies since then, and the first for the current Lok Sabha elections, Akash targeted the BJP at length, in a departure from Mayawati, who has focused her attacks on the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) in recent years.

The son of Mayawati’s younger brother Anand Kumar, Akash did his schooling in Delhi and MBA from London. He returned to India in 2017, and in May the same year, accompanied Mayawati to Saharanpur, where a Thakur-Dalit clash had occurred.

In September 2017, a few months after the BJP came to power in UP in a massive victory, reducing the BSP to 19 seats, Mayawati formally introduced Akash to party workers.

By the time of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Akash was playing an active role in the party and was credited with getting Mayawati to join social media platform X.

When the Election Commission banned Mayawati from campaigning for 48 hours during the polls, Akash addressed his very first rally, urging people to vote for the BSP and its then partners SP and RLD. In a symbolism that was not lost, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and then RLD president Ajit Singh joined Akash on the stage.

A few weeks after the 2019 results, in which the BSP won the most seats (10) after the BJP in UP, Mayawati appointed Akash the party’s national coordinator, with the responsibility of bringing the youth, especially those from the Dalit community, into the BSP fold.

In December 2022, after the debacle of the UP Assembly polls, in which the BSP won just one seat, Mayawati told the cadre that she would send Akash to different parts of the state to collect “truthful progress reports of work done by the party”.

Akash’s role was then expanded to overseeing the BSP’s preparations for the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections last year. He was told to help formulate a campaign around issues concerning Dalits, religious minorities, OBCs, and tribals.

In August, Akash led a foot march in Bhopal, and made a bid to gherao the Raj Bhavan. The same month, he also led a 14-day padyatra in Rajasthan. This was a departure from the party’s usual strategy of not organising padyatras and demonstrations.

However, the BSP’s performance in the Assembly polls remained dismal, with the party failing to open its account in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana, and winning two seats in Rajasthan against the six it had won in 2018.

In an interview with The Indian Express a fortnight ago, Akash said his entry into politics was “not planned”, as Mayawati – whom he calls “Bua maa” — “did not want anyone from the family to join politics”. However, he said, the leaders she turned to “did not rise to the occasion”. “Then, the members of her circle advised her that if she can bring in someone from the family as the custodian, that will give some sort of stability to the party.”

Significantly, in the interview, Akash admitted that he was often aggressive in his speeches, adding that he could not control his anger over “injustice” done to people, particularly the Dalit community.

Mayawati’s action against Akash came on the heels of a speech for which he was booked for “promoting enmity”, after which several rallies to be addressed by him were cancelled.

While in this speech, made in Sitapur on April 29, Akash purportedly called the BJP “aatankvadiyon ki party (a party of terrorists)”, he told The Indian Express that not taking on the ruling party aggressively was part of the BSP’s strategy.

“When you attack someone, you also have to factor in its retaliation. If we keep attacking the Central government, Modiji or Amit Shahji, we know that there will be retaliation… Our community is not capable of fighting the ED, CBI or local authorities… Taking action legally is wiser. After that, when the opportunity comes, give a reply to the government with your vote… Politics is like a game of chess. It is better if you fight wisely,” he said.

Akash also defined his main task as BSP star campaigner as “telling people about the policies of Behenji’s past governments”. “I feel that sooner or later, the responsibility will increase from just campaigning,” he said, going on to suggest that had he had a larger role in last year’s Assembly elections, “I am sure we could have improved the results”.