Akash (left) was spotted with the BSP chief when she received SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on her birthday.Following the BSP’s poor showing at the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, party supremo Mayawati on Sunday appointed her brother Anand Kumar and nephew Akash Anand as the party’s national vice-president and national coordinator respectively. The decision was taken at a meeting in Lucknow that was attended by BSP’s top leaders.
Meanwhile, Amroha MP Danish Ali was made the leader of the party in Lok Sabha and its Nagina MP Girish Chandra appointed chief whip.
Akash, a prominent face in Mayawati’s Lok Sabha campaign, had first raised brows with his presence at the birthday celebration of the BSP supremo. She later announced Akash would join the party’s “movement” and learn the ropes of politics.
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“It is an anti-BSP conspiracy…dragging in my nephew forces me to think something about it…in a tit-for-tat response, I will make Akash join the BSP movement and give him a chance to learn,” she had earlier said amid criticism from the BJP.
The political newbie had also addressed a joint gathbandhan rally at the Kothi Meena Bazar Ground in Agra after Mawayati was banned from campaigning for 48 hours by the Election Commission.
Mayawati had begun hand-holding Akash, the son of her younger brother, since his return from London in early 2017. In May 2017, Akash had accompanied Mayawati during a visit to Saharanpur after a Thakur-Dalit clash. A few BSP leaders told The Indian Express they remember Mayawati had introduced Akash to them: “This is Akash, he has completed his MBA from London and now will look after the party works”.
She first introduced her brother Anand and nephew Akash to party workers on September 18, 2017, during a political rally in Meerut. The introduction was considered as the launch of Akash’s political career. It was the first time Anand and Akash shared the dais with her.
Akash, who completed his schooling from Delhi, is the eldest of Anand’s three children. “He accompanies Behanji when she goes to Delhi,” sources said.
Mayawati said her younger brother “Anand Kumar and his family had selflessly struggled since 2003 to support her and the BSP” but never sought party position.
