India
pti-PTI
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Wednesday said her nephew Akash Anand could return to an active role in the party only if his father-in-law and former Rajya Sabha member Ashok Siddharth gives up his political ambitions and retires. Mayawati accused Siddharth of repeatedly giving greater importance to his “personal and family interests and ambitions” than the BSP’s mission.
The former UP chief minister’s remarks come days after she removed Akash Anand from the post of BSP national coordinator at a national-level meeting of party office-bearers in Lucknow on September 3.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati stated that her nephew Akash Anand can only return to an active party role if his father-in-law, former Rajya Sabha member Ashok Siddharth, retires from politics, citing Siddharth’s prioritization of personal interests over the BSP mission.
Expressing her views on X on Wednesday, she said the BSP leadership was taking disciplinary action against those who sought to obstruct the party’s efforts, describing Siddharth as a “much-discussed example” of such action.
“Not once, but several times, the party gave him an opportunity to mend his ways. But he gave greater importance to his personal and family interests and ambitions than the BSP’s mission, the consequences of which had to be faced by him as well as his son-in-law Akash Anand,” she said.
Mayawati said Siddharth had “never properly cared” about Akash Anand or the BSP movement because of his personal interests, and argued that he should instead have set a greater example of sacrifice and dedication to the party and society.
She said Siddharth has an opportunity to put aside his political ambitions and retire completely from politics “in the interest of the BSP and the movement, as well as his family and son-in-law Akash Anand”.
“Only then will it be possible for Akash Anand 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,” Mayawati said, adding that this was the general view within the organisation.
During the meeting, Mayawati had said Anand still needed to attain more “political maturity” and that she would not entrust him with major organisational responsibilities for the time being.
Siddharth, who is Anand’s father-in-law and a former BSP Rajya Sabha member, was expelled from the party on August 2 over allegations of repeated indiscipline, an anti-party stance and failure to discharge his responsibilities effectively. In Wednesday’s post, Mayawati also appealed to members of the “Bahujan Samaj”, particularly Dalits, not to undertake any action in pursuit of personal or family interests that could hinder the BSP’s political campaign.
She said the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab were approaching and described all three states as particularly important for the BSP and the Bahujan movement.
Mayawati called on party workers, office-bearers, supporters and well-wishers to work with full dedication to achieve electoral gains in the three states. She also sought support from people across communities, saying the BSP was facing challenges from opposition parties and “casteist elements”, particularly on issues such as reservation.
