Escalating her confrontation with nephew Akash Anand, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday expelled him from the party saying he has now been “completely freed” hours after Akash’s father-in-law Ashok Siddharth announced his retirement from active politics, claiming that the BSP chief’s wish was more important to him than anything else.
On Wednesday, Mayawati indicated that her nephew could regain an organisational role if Siddharth retired from politics. She has removed Anand from the post of party’s national coordinator thrice in over two years. This is the second time he has been expelled from the party. Earlier on March 3, 2025, Mayawati had unceremoniously removed Akash from national coordinator’s post and expelled him as well.
In a post on X, the BSP chief said: “Akash Anand was relieved of all important responsibilities of the highly crucial position of national coordinator on September 3. In the same way, he is now completely free and relieved from the party, adding if Anand wanted to remain independent, he was free to do so.”
Announcing his retirement from active politics, Siddharth said Mayawati’s wish was more important to him than anything else and that he had remained committed to the BSP’s mission for 35 years. He also said that he would remain indebted to the BSP chief all his life for making an ordinary man like him a member of her family.
The BSP chief described it as a step taken “too late” and questioned whether Siddharth’s intentions had actually changed. She also accused Akash Anand of remaining more attached to his father-in-law than to the BSP and its movement.
{{/usCountry}}The BSP chief described it as a step taken “too late” and questioned whether Siddharth’s intentions had actually changed. She also accused Akash Anand of remaining more attached to his father-in-law than to the BSP and its movement.
{{/usCountry}}In a series of posts on X, Mayawati said had Siddharth taken the decision earlier, “neither the BSP, the Bahujan Samaj nor Akash Anand” would have suffered and she would not have been forced to take repeated tough decisions concerning them.
On Wednesday, Mayawati accused Siddharth of repeatedly placing personal and family interests above the party and the Bahujan movement. Siddharth responded on Thursday by announcing his “sanyaas”, saying he had never worked against the BSP’s interests and had barely met Anand in recent months. He also specifically asked Mayawati not to link his retirement with Anand’s return, arguing that Anand had spent two decades under his aunt’s guidance and could not have been misled by him.
She said Siddharth’s decision was a case of “better late than never”, but added that if he genuinely cared about Anand’s future and the interests of the BSP, he would have retired immediately after her earlier warnings.
She said Siddharth’s delay showed that his “intentions and ambitions” had not disappeared. Mayawati said Anand did not repost her X post despite the message being intended for his own benefit. She contrasted this with what she described as Anand’s earlier practice of reposting her messages to show his loyalty.
“If Akash Anand is more concerned about his relations and family attachment than the real interests of the party and the movement, and his own political career linked to it, how can he work for the BSP and the movement while being double-minded” Mayawati asked.
Ashok Siddharth, a doctor-turned-politician from Farrukhabad, was among Mayawati’s trusted lieutenants and served as an MLC before becoming a Rajya Sabha member in 2016. His Rajya Sabha term ended in 2022. He held several organisational responsibilities, including charge of southern states.
His personal connection with Mayawati’s family deepened in March 2023 when his daughter Dr Pragya Siddharth married Akash Anand. Siddharth’s wife Sunita Siddharth has also held a public position, serving as vice-chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh State Women’s Commission from 2007 to 2012, according to published reports.
Siddharth has, however, had a turbulent relationship with the BSP leadership in recent years. He was expelled in February 2025 over allegations of indiscipline, factionalism and violation of party directions. He was reinstated in September 2025 after publicly apologising to Mayawati.
He was expelled again in August 2026. Mayawati said he had been removed over alleged indiscipline and failure to follow party directions and had returned to Uttar Pradesh despite being assigned responsibilities outside the state. She had then said he would not be taken back.
Akash Anand, 31, is the son of Mayawati’s younger brother Anand Kumar. He studied MBA in London and entered active politics under Mayawati’s mentorship. He was appointed the national coordinator of the BSP in 2019. Mayawati later increasingly positioned him for a larger organisational role.
In June 2024, after initially removing him following the Lok Sabha election campaign, Mayawati reinstated Anand as national coordinator and described him as her successor. However, his political rise has since been repeatedly interrupted.
In March 2025, Mayawati removed Anand from his organisational responsibilities and expelled him from the BSP, while also expelling Siddharth. Anand subsequently apologised and was taken back into the party in April 2025, although without his earlier position.
His political rehabilitation again came under a cloud in September 2026, when Mayawati removed him from the national coordinator’s responsibilities, citing the need for greater political maturity.