NEW DELHI: A day after reinstating her nephew Akash Anand in the Bahujan Samaj Party and restoring his position as national coordinator, BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday said there should be no further need to separate him from the party now that his father-in-law Ashok Siddharth has taken political “sanyas”.In a post on X, Mayawati also sought to clarify reports that Anand had been expelled from the party multiple times, saying such accounts did not present the complete context.“As is known, Akash Anand was brought back into the BSP yesterday and appointed as the party’s national coordinator again, and he has been engaged in the party’s work. However, today, most media outlets have exaggerated this matter quite a bit, writing that Akash Anand was expelled from the party four times and has now been taken back into the party and made the national coordinator again,” Mayawati said.Mayawati said Anand had played an active role in the BSP even before his marriage and had never been expelled during that period. She alleged that after his association with Siddharth, attempts were made to tarnish Anand’s image for “selfish interests”.“Whereas, in this regard, I also want to inform you that even before Akash Anand’s marriage, he was playing a very active role in the party, due to which he has never been expelled from the party,” she added.Mayawati said she was confident that Siddharth’s decision to retire from politics would eliminate the circumstances that had previously led to Anand’s separation from the party.“But I am fully confident that after Mr Ashok Siddharth took sanyas, there should no longer be any situation that would require the party to separate from him again. That is, just as he never gave the party any opportunity for complaint before the marriage, due to which he was never expelled from the party, and now after Mr Ashok Siddharth has taken sannyasa, no question arises at all that there will ever be any need to expel him from the party in the future, and now he will continue to advance in politics – everyone has full hope of this,” she said.Akash Anand was reinstated in the party three days after he apologised to Mayawati and pledged to work under her “sole leadership”. On Monday, Mayawati said she was taking him back in the “interest of the party and the movement”, following feedback from party workers and his apology.
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
Anand had been removed as national coordinator on September 10, after Mayawati first reduced him to the position of an ordinary party worker at an all-India party meeting on September 3.In his apology, Anand said he had stayed away from social media at the time and that his failure to repost Mayawati’s message was misunderstood. He also backed her decision to expel Siddharth and seek his retirement, saying the party’s mission was bigger than family considerations.Mayawati had earlier removed Anand and subsequently brought him back in May 2024 and March 2025. The latest reinstatement came less than a month after his removal.