Days after removing her nephew Akash Anand from his organisational post, party supremo Mayawati on Wednesday set a ‘sanyas’ condition for his responsibilities to be restored. Ahead of the crucial 2027 state assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh’s political battleground is growing tense as Bahujan Samaj Party’s internal friction is playing out before the public’s eyes.
The former UP chief minister said that Akash Anand could return to an active role in BSP only if his father-in-law, Ashok Siddharth, gives up his political ambitions and retires.
Mayawati accused Siddharth of prioritising his personal and family ambitions over the party’s mission. Furthermore, she added that Siddharth has an opportunity to put aside his political ambitions and retire completely from politics in the interest of the BSP, the movement, his family, and his son-in-law. Earlier reporting noted: Mayawati hints at Akash Anand’s return, sets retirement condition for father-in-law Less than a week after removing her nephew, Akash Anand, 31, as BSP’s chief national coordinator, party president Mayawati on Wednesday indicated that he could regain a key organisational role if his father-in-law, Ashok Siddharth, retired from active politics.
Because of his personal interests, earlier reporting noted: “Ashok Siddharth has never truly cared for Akash Anand or the BSP movement.
“The party gave him not just one but several opportunities to mend his ways, but he prioritised his personal and familial interests and ambitions over the BSP’s mission, the consequences of which he himself, along with his son-in-law Shri Akash Anand, has had to bear,” the BSP chief added. “Aise mein BSP party wa movement ke hit ke saath-saath khud unke parivaar evam apne daamaad Shri Akash Anand ke bhavishya ko dhyan mein rakhkar Shri Ashok Siddharth ke paas abhi bhi mauka hai ki ve apni raajneetik mahatvaakaanksha ko tyaag kar wa niji swarth aadi se upar uthkar raajneeti se poori tarah se sanyaas le lein. (In such a situation, keeping in mind the interests of the BSP Party and Movement, as well as his own family and the future of his son-in-law Shri Akash Anand, Shri Ashok Siddharth still has the opportunity to renounce his political ambitions, rise above personal interests, etc., and completely retire from politics.),” she stated in the post. “Only then will Shri Akash Anand be able to work freely in the party, and only then will the party sympathetically consider restoring his responsibilities so that he can play an active role in the party—this is the general consensus in the party,” she said. Earlier reporting noted: In a post on X, the BSP chief said the party had given Ashok Siddharth not just one but several opportunities to mend his ways, but he had prioritised his personal interests and ambitions over the BSP’s mission. The consequences, she said, had been borne by Siddharth himself as well as his son-in-law Akash Anand. Instead, exactly the opposite has been happening,” she said.
For this, Ashok Siddharth should have set an example of greater sacrifice, penance and selflessness before the party and society than others.
Seeking support from people across communities, she said that the BSP was facing challenges from opposition parties and “casteist elements”.
