Mayawati’s flip-flops put Akash on perpetual shaky ground in BSP

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati may no longer be the stormy petrel of Indian politics. Yet, but within the BSP, a party emaciated by successive poll losses and an exodus of leaders, Behenji remains as mercurial as ever and her decisions are still as confounding as her political moves once were.

On Sunday (May 18), Mayawati announced that her nephew Akash Anand, who she had expelled from the party in March, only to re-induct him a month later, will now be the BSP’s chief national coordinator. Even more significant was her missive to her BSP colleagues that they must now report all their party activities to Akash, who, she said, will also accompany her at all political events.

Near-absolute reinstatement

For Akash, Mayawati’s announcement marks a near-absolute reinstatement in the BSP, shorn only of being officially named Behenji’s heir. In March, when she had expelled Akash from the BSP for “anti-party activities” under the “bad influence” of his father-in-law and former BSP MP Ashok Siddharth, Mayawati had pledged to not name her political heir – a bequest she had made for Akash when he first debuted as a BSP office bearer in 2019 – “till I draw my last breath”.

Now, within a year that saw Mayawati sacking her nephew from party posts twice (on May 7, 2024 and then again on March 2 this year) and expelling him once (on March 3 this year), Akash is back in the good graces of his bua (paternal aunt).

Also read: By sacking 'heir apparent' Akash, Mayawati may have dealt a suicidal blow to BSP

At Behenji’s pleasure and mercy

By naming Akash the party’s chief national coordinator, a post created in the BSP for the first time, and directing seniors such as Akash’s own father, Anand Kumar and national coordinators Ramji Gautam, Raja Ram and Randhir Beniwal to report to him, Mayawati has practically positioned her nephew as the de facto heir-apparent even if her pledge has prevented her from doing so officially.

Yet, by wringing Akash through this sacking-reinstating-expelling-reinstating turnstile, the volatile BSP supremo has, in her characteristic style, also made it known to her nephew and everyone else in the party that they serve the BSP solely at her pleasure and mercy.

Tidings both good and bad

For Akash, the latest elevation signals tidings both good and bad but whether these will come in equal proportion remains unclear.

“By creating the post of chief national coordinator, entrusting him with overseeing party activities across all states and telling senior leaders to report to him, Behenji has practically made him No. 2 in the party but, at the same time, through the actions she took against him over the last year, she has also made it abundantly clear that such posts can be taken away just as easily as they are given,” a former BSP MP told The Federal.

“When she agreed to bring Akash back into the party last month, she even made him go public with the promise of severing all ties with his father-in-law; so, you can imagine the absolute control that Behenji would want to have over Akash if she really wants him to take over the party after her,” the former MP said.

Also read: Uttar Pradesh: Can Akash Anand's return revive Mayawati's BSP? I Discussion

Mixed reactions from cadre

Sources in the BSP say Akash’s dramatic reinstatement and promotion have been met with “great enthusiasm” among the party’s younger cadre as also within a section of Mayawati’s “captive” vote bank of Jatav Dalits, who had for long been lamenting the lack of interest the BSP supremo showed in recent years to revive her party.

This enthusiasm, however, is not shared by the party’s senior cadre, which had always been ill at ease with the quick rise of Akash, from the time he first joined active politics in 2019 till May last year when he was abruptly sacked from his then post of national coordinator mid-way into the Lok Sabha poll campaign, ostensibly for his scathing attacks at the BJP.

Balancing these two sections of the party while also maintaining his aunt’s confidence will be the biggest challenge for the 30-year-old MBA graduate from UK’s University of Plymouth. The other difficulty he may face, given the happenings of the past year, is to get the party as a whole to take him seriously without making Mayawati suspicious of him positioning himself as a parallel power centre.

Akash on perpetual shaky ground

“The manner in which Mayawati has treated Akash throughout the past year will make even the most dedicated BSP supporter wonder how long he will serve in his current position before Behenji finds some reason to get rid of him again. In such a situation, it will be very difficult for Akash to make party leaders take him seriously. Yes, Behenji has told everyone that they have to now work with Akash, report to him and treat him as her representative but she had done that in the past too,” another former BSP MP who once enjoyed Mayawati’s blind trust told The Federal.

This MP, who seemingly lost Behenji’s favour last year when she suspected his loyalty was shifting to her nephew, added, “Fact is that with the party and the movement having weakened over the years and the pressures and fears (words used by BSP supporters to suggest the BJP-led Centre’s influence over Mayawati owing to the corruption cases she was once mired in) Behenji has had to work under has made her very suspicious of everyone.

It has become very easy for the people who still have some access to her to manipulate her. These people convinced her two months ago that Akash was trying to position himself as a power centre and she immediately dropped him; what’s to stop them from doing so again? Besides, if Akash has to rebuild the party, he will have to act tough and that too can be misunderstood by Mayawati as sign of a turf war; even those who support him will be wary of leaning too heavily on him now.”