Akash Anand is the son of Mayawati's brother Anand Kumar.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national coordinator Akash Anand has revealed his party’s pragmatic approach in dealing with political adversaries. He believes that confronting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah or the BJP government wouldn’t be in interest of the community that the BSP represents as they can’t fight government agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The statement takes forward the charge made by opposition parties that the BJP-ruled government is killing dissent by sending central agencies after political opposers.
“When you attack someone, you also have to factor in its retaliation. If we keep attacking the Central government, Modiji or Amit Shahji, we know that there will be retaliation. That retaliation will not be directly on us but it will be on people around us, and our community. Our community is not capable to fight ED, CBI or local authorities. How will we protect them?” Anand, BSP chief and former UP Chief Minister Mayawati’s nephew and political successor said in an interview with Indian Express.
“If our any statement and action can cause damage to our people, we do not take such action. But yes, anything which is wrong, that will be called wrong. If people vote for the right candidates, we will get the opportunity to rectify the wrongs,” he said.
Anand said that Mayawati”s decision-making process involves assessing the potential benefits or harms to the community before taking a stand against politicians.
“Behenji never takes any decision for herself but for her samaj. She knows if she outright targets someone, how much that can cause damage to our people. In other parties, people probably have money and political powers. For example, Congress is always in power in some state. So they have a political back-up to protect their people. But BSP is not in power in any state. So, if our any statement causes damage to our people, Behenji will not do that,” he said.
Anand, 28, is the primary campaigner for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the Lok Sabha elections across Uttar Pradesh and various other states. Reflecting on BSP”s performance since 2014, Anand stresses that the party”s core voter base is still intact amid a decline.
“Whether it is Congress or the regional parties, they are all struggling now. BSP is not the only party in it. In fact, at least BSP’s core vote back is intact even today. We have maintained our vote share in Lok Sabha elections since 2014. We believe our vote share will remain intact,” he said.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP secured 10 of the 80 seats in the state. However, four of its MPs defected to the BJP in recent weeks. The party has opted not to align with the INDIA bloc of opposition parties.
Anand, the son of Mayawati”s brother Anand Kumar, was introduced to senior party members in 2017. He holds an MBA from a London university and has been involved in party affairs since his induction.
He was elevated to the position of national coordinator in 2019 amid organizational restructuring following the dissolution of BSP”s alliance with the Samajwadi Party. He managed the campaign strategy for the BSP chief in the 2019 Lok Sabha election and handled the party”s social media presence during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly election.
In 2022, he was the star campaigner for the Himachal Pradesh assembly election.
