History seems to have repeated itself. Like several mainstream parties with a preponderance of dominant social groups, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fallen into the trap of dynastic politics. Mayawati, supremo of the party which once claimed to practise alternative politics, has anointed Akash Anand, her nephew, as her successor, directing him to strengthen the BSP in states where it is weak.
Anand made his political debut at a BSP rally in 2017. Mayawati gave him an important role in the management and campaign of the 2019 general election. He also worked closely with her during the 2019 parliamentary election and the Uttar Pradesh assembly election in 2022. He led a 13-km Swabhiman Sankalp Yatra in Rajasthan on B R Ambedkar’s birth anniversary and campaigned for the Samajwadi Party-BSP-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance in the recent elections to the state. Mayawati appointed Anand the party’s national coordinator a few months ago.
In the ’90s and the first decade of the 2000s, the BSP incubated several competent leaders. R K Chaudhury, Sone Lal Patel, Om Prakash Rajbhar, Sanjay Nishad and several others trained under Kanshi Ram in the BSP. After Mayawati assumed party leadership, some of these leaders left or were expelled. Behenji never allowed a second rung of leadership to grow within the party.
Is there any justification for Mayawati’s feudal style? The only rationale one can offer is that subaltern forces often internalise the evils of those they challenge. The party did not allow grassroots leaders to emerge. This demoralised its cadres. One Dalit organic intellectual told this writer that history had given Behenji the responsibility to change the fate of Dalits and the marginalised, but she did not prove true to it.
In the ’90s, the BSP gave a new lease of life to the Dalit movement in India. The party is entering its fourth phase — Kanshiram led it to begin with; in the second phase, the Kanshi Ram-Mayawati combine held the reins of power and Behenji led the party in its third phase. It’s now Anand’s turn. The change raises questions: How will members react to Mayawati’s announcement? How will this shift affect the BSP as a party? How will the party’s committed supporters react?
I don’t see the possibility of much opposition within the party and its cadre because there is no second-level Dalit leadership in it. Scarcely anyone aspires to become Mayawati’s successor. Two, Mayawati still has a following among BSP supporters. It’s likely that, gradually, they will accept the change. However, the possibility of the cadre’s enthusiasm diminishing further in some places cannot be ruled out. That said, Anand’s leadership could lead to positive changes. With a young and techno-savvy leader, the BSP might respond better to the politics of these changing times. Anand has the vision and the ability to make the BSP assertive on social media. He could connect with the growing constituency of young Dalit voters and check the shift towards Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party.
Anand’s other challenge will be to stop the growing shift of Dalit voters, cadres, and leaders towards Congress and the BJP. He is young and works hard. These are the right qualities when Mayawati’s resolve to reach out to the gali and kucha seems to be waning. She will likely project the party’s new leadership in public rallies and other gatherings. It remains to be seen how the BSP evolves under Akash Anand’s leadership — he will will need to work overtime to keep Kanshi Ram’s vision alive.
The writer is professor, Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad
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