On the surface, BSP chief Mayawati’s removal of Akash Anand as her successor might seem like a surprise. However, it might just tie in with the party’s larger game plan.
Anand, in his campaign speeches, had attacked the BJP in various ways, before calling it ‘antakwadiyon ki sarkar’ (government of terrorists) which invited a FIR in Sitapur. He had called out the BJP for its bulldozer tactics, unemployment and poverty, the declining quality of education and its inability to do anything for the Bahujan samaj. But was he really taking on the BJP?
Anand himself had said in an interview that the Bahujan Samajwadi Party did not have the might to tackle the BJP’s unleashing of investigative agencies. And thus, while his election speeches might have seemed vitriolic, they were aimed more at holding together the party’s own flock than damning the BJP.
His aggressiveness coupled with the BSP’s pick of candidates, non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav SCs; and a quiet doing away of the party’s Brahmin face Satish Chandra Mishra had given some indication of the party being serious in its poll quest. However, Anand’s removal has made it clear that the BSP is not taking on the BJP but has other aims.
"The BSP’s end goal is to hold on to its core Jatav vote bank", said social scientist Prashant Kumar Trivedi. He added that this is a crucial goal as when that core moves, it shall move en masse- a risk that BSP cannot take or its identity will be wiped out.
In every Lok Sabha election since 1996, the BSP vote share has been on an upward swing - starting from 4.02%. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls the BSP got its highest-ever tally in the Lok Sabha, winning 20 seats in UP and one in MP, with a vote share of 6.17%. However, in just the next Lok Sabha election in 2014, it drew a blank. In 2019, its vote share fell further, but it won 10 seats in the Lok Sabha from UP. Mayawati had then declared her intention to not fight another election with a coalition. Her logic was that while the BSP vote had shifted to the allies (Samajwadi Party in UP), a similar shift had not taken place for BSP candidates.
The removal of Anand perhaps also indicates that the BSP is not making its decisions independently.
Tie it in with other indications such as the taking back of the ticket of Srikala Singh, the wife of don Dhananjay Singh in Jaunpur.
Singh, by virtue of her husband’s muscle power, was a serious contender and would have given the BJP a tough fight. When her ticket was taken back, Dhananjay Singh had expressed anger and made it clear that the winner in Jaunpur would be decided by him.
Anand, declared Mayawati’s successor in December 2023, perhaps did not understand these nuances as well as Mayawati would have expected him to. Hence, his removal to serve the BSP’s actual aim was necessary.
