The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will hold a crucial meeting in Lucknow on Sunday to review its disastrous performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls. It is also likely that Akash Anand, the nephew of party chief Mayawati, will rejoin the party.

The indications of Akash Anand’s return gained momentum after he was designated as a star campaigner for the upcoming Uttarakhand and Punjab assembly by-elections on Saturday. Mayawati herself had appointed him as the party’s national coordinator and her political heir in December 2023.

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Akash Anand’s name was listed second after Mayawati in the star campaigners’ lists for Uttarakhand and Punjab.

The BSP is contesting the assembly by-elections in both states.

A BSP source said that Akash Anand was relieved of party responsibilities by Mayawati during the Lok Sabha elections. However, his inclusion in the star campaigners’ lists for two states indicates that his return to the party has now been finalised.

On May 8 last year, during the Lok Sabha campaigning and on the day of the third phase of polling, Mayawati removed her nephew Akash Anand (29) from the position of BSP national coordinator and as her ‘political successor’ just five months after his appointment.

Mayawati said she took the decision in the interest of the party and the movement until the time Akash Anand gains “full maturity”.

Mayawati had taken action against Akash Anand after an FIR was registered against her nephew and four others on April 28 for allegedly using objectionable language at a poll rally in Sitapur, in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Akash Anand had reportedly also made some indecent comments about Azad Samaj Party president Chandrashekhar Azad during campaigning in the Nagina seat, which had irked the Dalit community. Later, Chandrashekhar won the seat by a landslide margin of over 1.50 lakh votes, receiving more than 5.12 lakh votes. In contrast, the BSP got just over 13,000 votes in that constituency.

Meanwhile, BSP chief Mayawati has convened a meeting of senior party leaders from across the country here on Sunday to discuss the party’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections. The meeting will commence at 11 am at the state party headquarters.