Mayawati kicks out nephew from party: What next in BSP's succession cycle?

BSP supremo Mayawati's decision to not name her political heir further clouds the future of the party, which has been struggling to regain political relevance

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Monday expelled her nephew Akash Anand from the party a day after stripping him of all key positions. While removing Anand from the party, Mayawati made a key announcement — she won’t be naming a political successor in her lifetime.

 

This decision further clouds the future of the party, which has been struggling to regain political relevance. The party had once pinned its hopes on Anand, 30, after Mayawati declared him her political heir in 2023. Though initially removed from the post, he was reinstated last year, only to be expelled from the party by his aunt on March 3.

 

 

The succession in BSP

 

Kanshi Ram established the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984 to empower Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs), and minorities. He was against family members being elevated in political succession and found his political heir in Mayawati, a former school teacher who he groomed into a firebrand leader.

 

Mayawati took over the reins of the party in 2001 and served as Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister four times. Her most significant tenure was from 2007 to 2012, when she led a majority government.

 

Mayawati’s changing stance on her successor

 

Unlike her mentor, Mayawati has had evolving views on her political successor. In the third edition of her autobiography, ‘Mere Sangharshmay Jeewan Ka Safarnama’, released in January 2008, Mayawati writes that whenever she would declare her successor, “he will not be from among my siblings or relatives”.

“My successor will be from the most oppressed Scheduled Caste, from my caste. He will be 30-35 years younger than me so that he can take forward this movement under his leadership for a long time,” she writes in her autobiography.

 

However, Mayawati took her party members by surprise after she appointed her nephew Akash Anand the national coordinator of the BSP in June 2019. The formal announcement came on December 10, 2023, when she appointed Akash Anand as her political heir ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

 

Akash Anand’s fall from grace

 

In May 2024, Mayawati removed Anand from the role, citing that he needed to reach ‘maturity’ before assuming the leadership. This came a month after a Model Code of Conduct case was registered against Anand for equating the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh with the Taliban.

 

In June 2024, Mayawati reinstated Anand as her successor and national coordinator, expressing hope that he would emerge as a mature leader in the interest of the BSP and the Bahujan movement. However, he was again removed from party posts on March 2, and from the party itself a day later.

 

Mayawati blamed Anand for being under the continuous influence of his father-in-law Ashok Siddharth. She said that contrary to showing remorse and political maturity, Anand displayed “mostly selfish, arrogant and non-missionary under the influence of his father-in-law”.

 

BSP’s struggles for relevance

 

Once a formidable force in Indian politics, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) now finds itself grappling with dwindling electoral relevance. Founded in 1984 by Kanshi Ram, the party revolutionised Dalit politics, giving voice to millions from marginalised communities.

 

While the party’s core voter base primarily composed of Dalits, particularly the Jatav community, Mayawati successfully built a Dalit-Brahmin alliance that helped BSP win a majority in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The result was seen in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, when the BSP won 30.43 per cent vote share and the party formed the government in the state.

 

Since then, the party’s vote share has seen a steep decline. From 30.43 per cent in 2007, the party’s vote share dropped to 12.88 per cent in the 2022 UP Assembly election. The trend was seen in the Lok Sabha polls too. The BSP's vote share was 27.42 per cent in 2009 but fell to just 9.39 per cent in 2024.

 

What next for BSP?

 

The BSP faces challenge internally and externally. While Akash Anand's expulsion may be a dampner for the young cadre, the growing influence of Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief Chandrashekhar Azad challenges the party's hold over its core Dalit voter base.

 

After removing Akash Anand as her political heir for the second time, Mayawati appointed his father Anand Kumar and Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Gautam as national coordinators of the BSP. She also said that she would not name a successor in her lifetime.

 

For now, Mayawati remains at the helm, determined to revive the party’s fortunes. But whether the BSP can reclaim its lost ground remains one of the biggest questions in Indian politics today.