Mayawati, the chief of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has named her nephew Akash Anand as her political successor.
Akash Anand, a prominent face during Mayawati's Lok Sabha election campaign in 2019, is the national coordinator of the party.
The veteran leader made the announcement at a key party meet today which was attended by the party office bearers.
Mayawati, always a great critic of dynastic politics, had appointed her brother Anand Kumar national vice president of the party in 2019 and nephew Akash was made a national coordinator.
28-year-old Akash entered politics in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He was seen in several photos alongside Mayawati and other top BSP leaders.
Before that, Akash Anand was seen at multiple BSP events and also accompanied his aunt on the 2017 Uttar Pradesh state poll campaign.
BSP leader Udayveer Singh said Anand has been given the responsibility to strengthen the party organisation all over the country. "She (Mayawati) said he (Anand) will be her heir after her," he said.
The development comes a day after Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali, who recently became a target of an unsavoury exchange on the floor of the house, was suspended from the BSP.
Danish Ali was suspended after he walked out of Lok Sabha proceedings on Friday along with other opposition members to protest against the motion to expel Trinamool Congress' Mahua Moitra for "unethical conduct".
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