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.
“In such a situation, keeping in mind the interests of the BSP and its movement, as well as his own family and the future of his son-in-law Akash Anand, Ashok Siddharth still has the opportunity to renounce his political ambitions, rise above personal interests and completely retire from politics. At the same time, disciplinary action is also being taken against those who try, even slightly, to create obstacles in this path. That would mean renouncing it altogether, not just retiring.
Because of his personal interests, “Ashok Siddharth has never truly cared for Akash Anand or the BSP movement. Only then will 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. “Therefore, the top leadership of the BSP, paying special attention to these matters, is including those who have strayed or been misled into the party, taking into account their conduct and behaviour.
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. This is the general consensus in the party,” Mayawati said. The BSP chief further said that as is well known, elections to the legislative assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab were now very close. These three states, she said, were not only extremely important but also very special for the BSP and the Bahujan movement in advancing the caravan of self-respect and dignity of the “Bahujan Samaj”, inspired by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, and in transforming the “exploited” into the “ruling class”. “At such a time, when the ‘Bahujan Samaj’, BSP and ‘Bahujan Movement’ are facing tough challenges, particularly on issues such as reservations, just as they did during the time of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, especially from opposition parties and casteist elements, the universally respected Ambedkarite party BSP appeals for cooperation from all sections of society,” she said. A prominent example of this is Ashok Siddharth, who was once a BSP Rajya Sabha MP,” she said. Earlier reporting noted: For Nephew Akash Anand’s Return To Party, Mayawati Sets “Sanyas” Condition For His Father-In-Law For Nephew Akash Anand’s Return To Party, Mayawati Sets “Sanyas” Condition For His Father-In-Law For Nephew Akash Anand’s Return To Party, Mayawati Sets “Sanyas” Condition For His Father-In-Law Earlier reporting noted: BSP chief has told Akash Anand in the past not to be influenced by his father-in-law, whom she had expelled from the BSP in August. BSP chief has told Akash Anand in the past not to be influenced by his father-in-law, whom she had expelled from the BSP in August. But this time her condition is extreme: the father-in-law, Ashok Siddharth, a former Rajya Sabha MP of the party, has to take “sanyas” from politics.
For this, Ashok Siddharth should have set an example of greater sacrifice, penance and selflessness before the party and society than others. Earlier reporting noted: Mayawati is ready to take her nephew Akash Anand back into the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), in a third U-turn on his political fate, and it’s again tied to his father-in-law.
Keeping this in mind, all small and big workers, office-bearers, supporters and well-wishers of the BSP were fully committed, with “body, mind and wealth” — meaning every kind of sacrifice — to the campaign to achieve good electoral results and capture power in these states, she said.
