Lucknow: The Bahujan Samaj Party public meeting at Anupshahr assembly constituency in Bulandshahr on Wednesday saw a ‘mellowed down’ party national convener Akash Anand.Though he hit out at UP govt for its functioning and policies, and also Congress and Samajwadi Party for failing people of UP, Akash exercised caution and restraint in his tirade against them.It was his first public meeting after his return to the party and reinstatement as national convener on Oct 5.Akash, who has been expelled thrice from the party by his aunt and BSP president Mayawati for being “immature” in handling the national-level responsibilities in the party, had recently won her appreciation when she publicly acknowledged his display of “wisdom and maturity” as the party’s national convener in her post on X.On Wednesday, he lived up to his aunt’s expectations when he avoided being drawn into any kind of personal attacks on his political opponents.When the crowd at the venue jeered ‘Akhilesh uncle’ as soon as Akash started talking about the SP chief and his PDA-model, his reaction was placid: “You said Akhilesh uncle. Yes he is elder to me. But I will keep my views here with respect. This is not the time to indulge into banter. That is something we would do later on.”Akash had addressed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav as ‘uncles’ in his Sadabad public meeting on Aug 10. “If a 30 year old like me will not call a 50-year old as uncle then who else. To me, he is not Akhilesh bhaiya, but Akhilesh uncle,” were his words.His statements had soon gone viral online.He had also attacked CM Yogi Adityanath and said, “UP CM Yogi Adityanath goes on calling himself an encounter specialist, when crime is rife in the state. While he calls himself an encounter specialist, UP topped the country in terms of murders.”This time, there was no mention of UP CM or other senior BJP members, like Nitin Gadkari, whom Akash had lavishly attacked in his previous speeches. The change in his tone and tenor may have been because of Mayawati’s schooling of him before he restarted his election campaign in UP.Akash was removed from the party on Sept 10 by Mayawati for being “immature” in handling the national-level responsibility of the party. In fact, after his Sadabad public meeting on Aug 10 and his personal attacks on the opposition leaders going viral, the party did not play up his second public meeting which was at Jewar on Aug 25.Before he could continue, he was dropped from the party by Mayawati.The way Mayawati had reacted this time was similar to how she had reacted to Akash’s election speech in Sitapur during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Akash had faced an FIR for his speech in Sitapur on April 28, and days after that, Mayawati had sacked him from the party for his lack of maturity.
