The maiden poll victory of Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad from the Nagina Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh has put a new spin on Dalit politics in the state, compelling BSP leader Mayawati to reinstate her nephew to a key party post after sacking him two months ago.

Akash Anand was made the national coordinator of the Bahujan Samaj Party during a three-hour meeting on Sunday.

Many BSP leaders believe that Akash’s return to the second-most important post in the party is enough indication that he will replace Mayawati as the party boss when the time comes.

“Many leaders believed that Akash was a reply to Chandrashekhar. The voters accept dynamism in a political party, and we must accept this. The victory of Chandrashekhar in Nagina is proof of this. His Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) is now preparing to contest all future elections. This can erode our Dalit vote base if we don’t project a new leader. Akash appears fit for the job,” said a BSP leader who didn’t want to be named.

“Akash was standing on Mayawati’s right after touching her feet in front of the party leaders. She blessed him by putting her right hand on his head. He is the only one who will replace her in future if something extraordinary doesn’t transpire in the family,” he added.

Mayawati had tasked Akash with campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections but withdrew him on May 7, claiming that he would be brought back when he attained “full maturity”. Nobody knew the reason behind her anger.

Akash was booked in Sitapur on April 28 for violating the model code of conduct. He had said at a rally that the “BJP was running a bulldozer government of traitors”. “It is a terrorist government, which keeps its youths hungry. Only Taliban runs such a government,” Akash had added.

On Saturday evening, the BSP chief had announced her decision to make Akash the party’s star campaigner for Assembly by-elections in two seats in Uttarakhand and one in Punjab. The by-elections will be held in 13 seats across seven states on July 10 and the results will be out on July 13.

The BSP, which claims its sole right over Dalit votes in Uttar Pradesh, failed to open its account in the recently concluded parliamentary elections. It got 9.39 per cent votes in the state. In 2019, it had won 10 seats and cornered 19.42 per cent votes.

Chandrashekhar, a newly emerged Dalit leader, trounced the BJP’s Om Kumar by around 1.51 lakh votes to win Nagina.

As the name of his party suggests, Chandrashekhar considers Kanshi Ram, Mayawati’s mentor and BSP founder, his ideal.

Earlier, Chandrashekhar had wanted to align with the BSP but Mayawati had snubbed him, terming him as “an agent of the BJP”.

The ASP(K) was an INDIA ally in the Lok Sabha elections and also got the dedicated votes of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.