Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati has named her 28-year-old nephew Akash Anand as her political successor, NDTV reported on Sunday.

The announcement was made during a meeting of the party’s office-bearers in Lucknow. BSP leader Udayveer Singh said that Anand has been given the responsibility to strengthen the party organisation in states outside Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. “He will prove to be a great leader going forward,” Singh was quoted as saying by ANI.

Mayawati, known for her critical views on dynastic politics, had made her brother Anand Kumar the party vice president in 2019.

Akash Anand has been the party’s coordinator for the last four years and was the face of Mayawati’s campaign in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He holds an MBA degree from London. Although he formally entered politics in 2019, he had accompanied Mayawati on several visits during the run-up to the 2017 Assembly elections. He also handled BSP’s social media during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls campaign.

The announcement comes a day after the party suspended its Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali for alleged anti-party activities.

Ali is continuing to seek action against the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Ramesh Bidhuri who used communal slurs against him inside Parliament in September.