LUCKNOW: BSP president Mayawati on Wednesday expelled former MP Ashok Siddharth and central-state coordinator Nitin Singh from the party for indulging in 'groupism' and 'anti-party activities.
Party insiders say Mayawati had given a warning to both leaders before taking action.
Siddharth is the father-in-law of Akash Anand, Mayawati’s nephew and political successor.
A former Rajya Sabha member, Siddharth has also served as party in-charge for three southern states.
Nitin Singh, who is close to Siddharth and hails from Meerut in western UP, was deployed with Akash Anand in the recent Delhi Assembly election.
The BSP chief made the announcement on microblogging site X. Notably, the BSP, whose political graph is dwindling with each electoral battle since 2012 in Uttar Pradesh and outside, had a poor performance in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly election.
The party, which is now struggling to save its national party status, had contested 68 of the 70 seats up for grabs but failed to open its account. Moreover, its vote share remained at 0.58 per cent, lower than Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM which had a 0.78 per cent vote share while contesting just five seats.
A government doctor, Siddharth had quit his job to join the BSP. He was sent to the UP Legislative Council by the BSP. In 2016, Mayawati sent him to the Rajya Sabha. His wife was the chief of the UP State Women’s Commission during Mayawati’s rule.