New Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati Wednesday expelled senior leader Ashok Siddharth, who is her nephew Akash Anand’s father-in-law, on grounds of encouraging groupism and being involved in anti-party activities.
Another party functionary from Meerut, Nitin Singh, who was considered close to Sidharth, was also expelled.
In a post on X, Mayawati said she had given prior warning to both leaders before taking action on Wednesday. Her decision, it is learnt, has shocked the party cadre as a large section considered Ashok Siddharth her closest aide after Satish Mishra.
Siddharth is the father-in-law of Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand, whom the former UP chief minister had announced as her successor last year. A former Rajya Sabha MP, Siddharth has been in charge of the party in various southern states.
Mayawati had also removed Akash from the position of national convener during Lok Sabha polls last year, saying he needed to be more mature before taking up such roles. She reinstated him after the election results.
A BSP leader told ThePrint that Ashok Siddharth and Rajya Sabha member Ramji Gautam had emerged as two distinct lobbies in the party. Akash and other young leaders were loyal to Siddharth, while Gautam had the backing of old guards, including Satish Mishra.
They were at loggerheads with each other for the last six months over recruitments in district units. “In the end, Siddharth was forced to pay the price,” the leader said on condition of anonymity. Siddharth, who was a member of Rajya Sabha from 2016 to 2022, has been associated with the party for over three decades. ThePrint reached him for comment via phone calls. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
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Resentment in party
Mayawati’s action against senior leaders has resulted in bitterness in the party which has not done well in any election lately.
Another senior functionary told ThePrint, “Mayawati’s decision has come as a blow because Siddharth was influential. She married off her nephew with his daughter. From finalising tickets to sealing alliances, Siddharth had a major role to play. She has removed him suddenly. It is really difficult to understand what is going on in her mind.”
Some also felt Akash’s stance to come down hard on the BJP during Lok Sabha polls put Mayawati under pressure. He aggressively raised issues such as paper leaks, inflation, and unemployment. Akash made BJP the primary target in his election campaign, but Mayawati has mostly taken aim at the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the last few years.
UP-based political analyst Dr Shilp Shikha Singh said Mayawati’s moves in the last five years have been difficult to understand. The assistant professor at Lucknow’s Giri Institute of Development Studies said: “When Akash was gaining traction, she pulled him out. When the Congress wanted her to join the INDIA bloc, she refused. Party cadres are demotivated as its performance has also gone down in every election. The party’s future is not looking very clear at the moment.”
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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