BSP Supremo Mayawati's Nephew On ‘Love-Hate’ Relationship With SP: ‘Agar Akhilesh Badtameezi Karenge Toh...’

Akash Anand, Mayawati's nephew, discussed the strained relationship between her, the late Mulayam Singh Yadav, and his son Akhilesh Yadav. He attributes the rift to unfulfilled promises and misbehavior.

Akash Anand, the nephew of BSP supremo Mayawati and her political successor, discussed the complexities of the relationship between Mayawati, Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, and his son, the current party president Akhilesh Yadav. In an interview with ANI, he commented on the challenges in the relationships, stating, "No relationship sours unless commitments are not fulfilled. If promises are made, they should be kept." Anand clarified that he was not critiquing Mulayam Singh as a politician but rather focusing on his relationship with Mayawati, describing it as a "love-hate relationship".

"Mistakes have been made, and forgiveness has been sought at one stage. If you misbehave being younger, no one will tolerate it, neither in their home nor ours. Similarly, if Akhilesh ji misbehaves, Behen ji will not tolerate it; our society won't tolerate it. The misbehavior he displayed and did not own up to on commitments, I think that has led to the relationship being so difficult now," he added.

On whether Mayawati has shut the door on Akhilesh, Anand stated that there are no closed doors in politics and emphasised the pragmatic approach of utilising opportunities. "There is never a closed door in politics. She (Mayawati) knows how to use it well, whether it's Akhilesh ji's SP, Narendra Modi ji's BJP, or Sonia Gandhi's Congress. Wherever we get the opportunity to form a government, we will definitely use it," he added.

BSP's Akash Anand On Whether Samajwadi Party Is Its Main Opponent, Decision For Solo Fight In Lok Sabha Elections 2024

When asked if the SP is the BSP's main opponent, Anand dismissed the notion, highlighting the limited influence of Akhilesh Yadav's party across Uttar Pradesh. He asserted that their competition is not with the SP but rather focused on retaining their voter base.

 "If you come towards Western UP, then they have very little activity on the ground and they have also very little vote share. I would constrain them to one part of UP rather than the whole UP and our competition is not with the SP, but we actually try to keep our voters intact anyhow," ANI quoted him as saying.

On the decision to contest elections independently, Anand explained that the BSP's core voters were not convinced about the coalition with the SP, leading to a loss of vote share to BJP and Congress. He expressed confidence that remaining non-aligned would help maintain and potentially increase their vote share. Anand also hinted at future alliances when the political climate is conducive.

"We also witnessed that core voters of the Bahujan Samaj Party were not convinced to coalition with Samajwadi Party so, we saw some of the vote share moved from us to BJP and Congress. We feel that if we remain in non-alliance then we can at least keep our vote share intact and can increase it. In the future, when time allows we can do social engineering and in the right circumstances and political environment, we will be able to guard more seats," he added, as quoted by ANI.

Despite the BSP's historical success in the 2007 UP assembly elections, winning a majority on its own, its performance in subsequent polls has been mixed. The party's electoral fortunes have fluctuated over the years, facing setbacks in both Lok Sabha and assembly elections. The BSP's attempts to expand into other states independently have largely been unsuccessful. However, the party experienced a resurgence in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and managed to secure a significant number of seats in subsequent elections through alliances. Nevertheless, its performance in recent years, including the 2022 state polls, has been modest, with the BSP winning only one seat.