Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party, in a surprise move, announced on Tuesday night the removal of her nephew Akash Anand from the position of national coordinator and her ‘political successor’, barely five months after she had anointed him. The BSP supremo, announcing it on X (formally Twitter), said she has taken the decision in the interest of the party and the movement till the time Anand gains “full maturity”.
Mayawati said her brother and Akash Anand's father, Anand Kumar, will continue to fulfil his responsibilities as before.
In her series of X posts, while Mayawati didn't mention the exact reason behind Akash Anand's removal, the surprise decision came on the day voting was held for the third phase of the Lok Sabha election 2024 across the country.
In a post in Hindi on X, Mayawati said, “The BSP is also a movement for self-respect and self-esteem of Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and social change for which Shri Kanshi Ram ji and I have dedicated our entire lives and a new generation is also being prepared to give it momentum.”
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She said, "In this direction, along with promoting other people in the party, I had declared Shri Akash Anand as the National Coordinator and his successor, but in the larger interest of the party and the movement, he is being divested of both these important responsibilities until he attains full maturity."
Mayawati said Anand Kumar will continue to fulfil his responsibilities in the party and the movement as before.
"Therefore, the leadership of BSP is not going to shy away from making every kind of sacrifice in the interest of the party and the movement and in taking forward the caravan of Baba Saheb Dr Ambedkar," Mayawati said in another post.
On April 28, 2024, Akash Anand was booked in a case of violation of Model Code of Conduct along with four others for allegedly using objectionable language at a poll rally in Sitapur.
The action had come after the district administration's took suo motu cognisance of Akash's speech at the rally.
"This BJP government is a bulldozer government and a government of traitors. The party that leaves its youth hungry and enslaves its elderly is a terrorist government. Taliban runs such a government in Afghanistan," he had said in criticism of the BJP-led state government.
Besides Anand, BSP candidates Mahendra Yadav, Shyam Awasthi, and Akshay Kalra and rally organiser Vikas Rajvanshi were booked in the matter, Superintendent of Police (Sitapur) Chakresh Mishra had then said.
The case was registered under sections IPC 171C (undue influence at elections), 153B (imputation, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and section 125 of the Representation of People Act.
Congress leader Surendra Singh Rajput said, “The way BSP chief Mayawati has removed her nephew Akash Anand from party coordinator post is very shocking. Did you take this step under some pressure from the BJP? Though this is an internal matter of your party, you should issue a clarification about this.”
Samajwadi Party leader Fakhrul Hasan Chaand alleged that the BSP and the BJP are in an “undeclared alliance”, and the way Akash Anand was removed from his position has proved it. “People can see this, and they will give a befitting reply to it.”
Taking a dig at the BSP chief, BJP leader Rakesh Tripathi said, "Mayawati runs the party like a private limited organisation, and she can make any decision anytime. Because of Akash Anand's irresponsible remarks and his statements against the BJP, there was an anger among the people (against BSP), and that's why Mayawati relieved her nephew of his responsibilities as the party's national co-ordinator."
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2024-05-08T01:02:24Z dg43tfdfdgfd