LUCKNOW Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday dismissed claims that her nephew, Akash Anand, faced multiple expulsions from the party, saying that he was never expelled prior to his marriage and that any subsequent disciplinary actions were specifically intended to help him improve his conduct rather than a recurring pattern of removal.
Akash’s latest reinstatement follows a series of reversals since Mayawati began grooming him for a larger role in the party. Appointed national coordinator in 2019, he was declared her political successor in December 2023.
The move followed his father-in-law and senior BSP leader Ashok Siddharth’s retirement from active politics. She maintained that Akash had actively worked for the BSP before his marriage and had never been expelled during that period. He subsequently returned to a senior organisational role and was appointed chief national coordinator.
The remarks came a day after she reinstated Akash and appointed him BSP national coordinator, reversing his expulsion on September 10. The relationship deteriorated again in March 2025, when Akash was stripped of his organisational responsibilities and expelled from the BSP.
She said there would be no need to separate Anand from the party anymore, as his father-in-law Ashok Siddharth had retired. In a post on X, Mayawati said media reports had “exaggerated” the developments by portraying Akash as having been expelled four times and subsequently brought back and reappointed national coordinator. The situation changed after Akash’s association with Siddharth, whom she accused of trying to damage her nephew’s image for his own interests, according to Mayawati. She said repeated organisational action against Akash was taken with the “special objective” of improving his conduct and that he was reinstated after realising his mistakes. Mayawati said Siddharth’s retirement should remove the circumstances that had contributed to the discord and expressed confidence that there would now be no need to separate Akash from the BSP again. Earlier reporting noted: The statement comes a day after Mayawati announced Anand’s reappointment as the BSP’s national convener, a decision she took “in the interest of the organisation as well as the movement”.
He apologised and was taken back into the party in April, though his earlier positions were not immediately restored. Earlier reporting noted: After ‘sanyas’ of his father-in-law, no more need to separate Akash Anand from BSP: Mayawati Lucknow, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday said there would be no need to separate her nephew Akash Anand from the party anymore, as his father-in-law Ashok Siddharth has retired. Earlier reporting noted: In an X post in Hindi, Mayawati said Anand was brought back to the BSP on Monday and appointed as the party’s national coordinator, as he had been engaged in the party’s work.
