LUCKNOW: The ongoing family feud in the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) seems to be widening with party chief Mayawati replacing brother Anand Kumar with Randhir Beniwal as the party’s national coordinator.
This comes after Anand Kumar, the party's national vice-president, rejected Mayawati’s offer, expressing the desire to hold only one post at a time.
Kumar was recently appointed as the party’s national coordinator in place of his son Akash Anand, who was dismissed from the post on Sunday and expelled from the party on Monday.
Kumar was given the additional responsibility of national coordinator along with the party’s Rajya Sabha member Ramji Gautam.
Notably, Mayawati, besides stripping Akash Anand of all the responsibilities of the party, also announced that she would not announce anyone as her successor and that she would continue to work for the party till her last breath.
Mayawati claimed that Akash was working under the influence of his father-in-law Siddharth Ashok, who was expelled on charges of anti-party activities and factionalism in early February, this year.
Taking to microblogging site X on Wednesday, Mayawati announced the decision to replace brother Anand Kumar with Randhir Beniwal. She said in her X post that Kumar expressed his wish to hold only one post in the interest of the party and his request was accepted. "Keeping in mind the interests of the party and the movement, Anand Kumar, who has been selflessly serving the BSP for a long time, expressed his wish to work only on one post. His decision is welcomed," Mayawati wrote on X.
She said that with Kumar not accepting the responsibility, Randhir Beniwal was appointed to the post. "In such a situation, Anand Kumar will continue to perform his responsibilities as before under my direct guidance while being the BSP National Vice President. And now in his place, Randhir Beniwal, a resident of Saharanpur district of UP, has been given the new responsibility of National Coordinator," she said.
"Now, Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Gautam and Randhir Beniwal will jointly serve as BSP's national coordinators, working directly under my guidance to handle responsibilities in various states," Mayawati added.
She said the party has expressed confidence that the newly-appointed leaders would work with "full honesty and dedication".