Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati's nephew Akash Anand is no longer her political heir or the party's National Coordinator. The 29-year-old got dropped this evening, days after a police case was filed against him for a derogatory comment against the BJP. His aunt said he was being "separated" from his responsibilities "until he attains full maturity".
In a post in Hindi on X, formerly Twitter, this evening, Ms Mayawati said, "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."
"In the same sequence, along with promoting other people in the party, I declared Shri Akash Anand as the National Coordinator and successor, but in the larger interest of the party and the movement, he is being separated from both these important responsibilities until he attains full maturity," read her second post. His father, Anand Kumar, will continue to fulfil his responsibilities in the party, she added in a third post.
Mr Anand's comments about the BJP had made headlines last week. A case was filed against him for Model Code violation.
"This government is a bulldozer government and a government of traitors," he had said. "The party that leaves its youth hungry and enslaves its elderly is a terrorist government," the BSP leader had added, citing Taliban.
The district administration took note of the speech and a case of Model Code of Conduct violation was filed against Mr Anand and four others on Sunday. Three of the others were party candidates and the fourth was a leader who organised the rally where Mr Anand was speaking.
Shortly after that, all rallies of Akash Anand were put on hold, sources said.
Ms Mayawati had named her nephew as her political heir in December last year. Her announcement today came as the third phase of the election came to an end. The BSP, which commands the support of a chunk of the state's Dalits. The party is goibg solo in this election.
Akash Anand had officially entered politics in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Before that he had attended multiple BSP events and accompanied his aunt on the campaign for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly election.
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