Akash Anand to spearhead BSP’s poll push with Mayawati, picks Bhim Army chief turf for launch

BSP supremo Mayawati’s nephew and political successor Akash Anand will kick off the party’s campaign for the Lok Sabha elections on April 6 from the Nagina constituency in Uttar Pradesh, where Bhim Army chief and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) leader Chandrashekhar Aazad has thrown his hat in the ring.

The 34-year-old BSP national coordinator Akash will hold a rally at a college ground in Nagina, which is the only SC (Scheduled Castes)-reserved constituency among UP’s eight seats going to polls in the first phase on April 19.

Mayawati will launch her party’s national campaign from Haridwar, a key Hindu pilgrimage centre, in Uttarakhand on April 13.

The Nagina seat is dominated by the Muslim and Dalit communities, which respectively make up about 40% and 20% of its population. The constituency’s other communities, among others, include Thakurs, Jats, Chauhan Rajputs, Tyagis and Banias.

In the 2019 elections, the BSP’s Girish Chandra had defeated the BJP’s Yashwant Singh by 1.66 lakh votes. Then BSP had then fought the polls in an alliance with the SP.

The entry of Aazad into the Nagina fray has made the contest more challenging for the BSP, which has replaced Girish with a new candidate Surendra Pal Singh.

Aazad, 36, is banking on his popularity among the Dalit and Muslim voters, especially the Dalit youths. He has been actively making his public outreach in the Nagina belt for a long time.

Aazad had earlier been hopeful of sealing a deal with the INDIA bloc, eyeing his Nagina debut as the Opposition bloc’s joint candidate. However, Akhilesh Yadav-led SP, the INDIA alliance’s dominant partner in UP, denied the seat to him, fielding instead its own candidate.

“Akash is more popular than Chandrashekhar among youths. Akash’s