Akash Anand: An MBA from London and BSP’s GenNext
n the BSP national executive meeting held in June 2019, Mayawati had appointed him party’s national coordinator
Akash Anand, 28, the son of BSP chief Mayawati’s brother Anand Kumar, was first seen in public with his aunt when he accompanied her to Shabbirpur village in Saharanpur district on May 23, 2017 to meet the dalit community members who were allegedly tormented by upper caste Thakurs.
He interacted with local leaders and villagers. Akash’s father Anand Kumar is the national vice president of the BSP. Grooming Akash for the top post in the party, Mayawati introduced him to party leaders and workers during public meetings in the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Akash accompanied Mayawati to crucial party meetings in Delhi too. He was also present during Mayawati’s pre-poll alliance talks with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in 2019. An MBA from an institute in London, Akash made his maiden speech at Kothi Meena Bazar ground in Agra during the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls on April 16, 2019, as the Election Commission had imposed a ban on Mayawati for violating the model code of conduct.
That day, Akash shared the stage with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and the then Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh who wished all success to him. Dressed in white shirt and jeans, Akash stole the limelight as BSP supporters cheered for him. “It is for first time that I have come to you to make an appeal,” he had said then.
He ended his short but assertive speech with ‘Jai Bhim’ and ‘Jai Bharat’ and was encouraged by senior alliance leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Ajit Singh who all mentioned his name in the beginning of their speeches.
Three days later on April 19, 2019, Akash was also part of historic moment at Christian College ground in Mainpuri when SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati shared stage after a gap of over two decades since the infamous guest house incident in Lucknow on June 2, 1995.
In the BSP national executive meeting held in June 2019, Mayawati had appointed him party’s national coordinator. Akash led the party campaign in the recently held assembly election Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
The BSP appointed him in charge of the assembly elections along with senior party leaders Ramji Gautam and Ashok Siddharth to strengthen the organisation in dalit, tribal and OBC-dominated areas. Akash launched a 14-day ‘Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay’ Sankalp Yatra in Rajasthan to gear up the party cadre for the assembly election. The BSP bagged two seats in the recently concluded assembly polls in Rajasthan.
On her 66th birthday programme on January 15, 2022, Mayawati had said, “The BSP is preparing Akash Anand for bigger role in the party. He is young and gaining political maturity. The party has entrusted him with the task of spreading the base of the party in the states where assembly elections will be held later. During appropriate time, Akash will get the opportunity to contest the election.”
During the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the name of Akash Anand was at number three position on the list of BSP star campaigners but in the 2022 U.P. assembly election, he was elevated to second position above party national general secretary SC Mishra who was at second position on the list of BSP star campaigners in the 2019 Lok Sabha election after party chief Mayawati.
On March 26, 2023, Akash was married to Pragya Siddharth, the daughter of former BSP MP Ashok Siddharth, at a ceremony in Gurugram. On social media platforms, Akash calls himself a “young supporter of Baba Saheb’s (Dr BR Ambedkar) vision. I stand for Education, Empowerment, and Equality.”