Mayawati heir Akash Anand takes yatra route to ride ladders in BSP

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, March 1: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national coordinator Akash Anand begins his yatra in Haryana from today. Anand’s ‘Sanvidhan Bacahao Yatra (save Constitution)’ begins from Faridabad in Haryana.

An MBA graduate from London, Anand was drafted in the BSP with the post of the national coordinator. The BSP supremo, Mayawati, with her gestures during press conferences has given enough hints that she is grooming the youngster as er successor in the party.

Anand kickstarts his yatra in Haryana. The aim of his yatra is to rally the support of the BSP cadre in Haryana where the party finds itself on electoral margins. Unlike his aunt, Mayawati, who believes in addressing public meetings and holding press conferences, Anand is trying new methods to connect with the party workers.

He had recently launched a ‘Missed Call’ campaign. This was aimed to bring the BSP closer to the party’s support base. He is seen gradually adopting methods employed by other political parties. The BSP was also a late entrant to the world of social media. The party still does not have social media accounts for several states in the country.

Akash Anand appears clear that the BSP workers will not accept him as a genuine successor of Mayawati until he hits the road. He is also not likely to gain the advantage of the dynastic trends in other parties. Anand may have to hit the rough road taken by Mayawati as a protégé of the BSP icon Kansi Ram to build the political base of the party in the state.

It appears that Anand will focus on the BSP’s lost political turfs in Haryana and Punjab to assert his political identity. The BSP had contested the last Assembly elections in Puniab in an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The BSP could not build on the Dalit vote base in Haryana to gain electoral acceptance. The BSP support base in Rajasthan also has largely eroded.

While Anand is seen to have raised an army of followers in the BSP, he is likely to focus in the northern states to pump his political profile. He is also regularly coming out with sharp comments on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BSP insiders recknon that Anand’s principal task is dispel the notion that the “BSP is sympathetic to the BJP”.  

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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