BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday said her nephew Akash Anand had been “completely freed” from the party, shortly after his father-in-law and former Rajya Sabha member Ashok Siddharth announced his retirement from political and social life.
Mayawati’s announcement came a day after she had linked Anand’s political future in the BSP to Siddharth’s retirement, saying the party would consider restoring Anand’s responsibilities if his father-in-law gave up his political ambitions.
However, after Siddharth announced his retirement on Thursday, Mayawati said Anand’s personal and family interests appeared to outweigh his political career and the interests of the BSP.
She questioned whether Anand could effectively work for the party while remaining “double-minded”.
Mayawati also said Anand’s failure to repost her earlier post on X showed that he was more attached to family ties than to the BSP and its movement.
“Therefore, the people in the party feel that just as he was relieved of all the important responsibilities of the post of national coordinator on September 3, 2026, he should now also be completely freed from the party from today. Therefore, if Akash Anand wants to remain independent in the party, he is free to do so; that is, he has now been completely freed from the party,” Mayawati posted on X.
On Wednesday, Mayawati had said the BSP would consider restoring Anand’s responsibilities only if Siddharth quit politics.
In a post on X, she said the party had given Siddharth several opportunities to mend his ways, but he repeatedly gave greater importance to his personal and family interests and ambitions than to the BSP’s mission. She said Anand had also suffered as a result.
Mayawati had said Siddharth still had an opportunity, keeping his family and his son-in-law’s future in mind, to give up his political ambitions and personal interests and retire completely from politics.
Her remarks came days after the BSP removed Anand as its national coordinator at a national-level meeting of party office-bearers in Lucknow on September 3.
Mayawati had then said Anand needed to gain greater “political maturity” and that she would not entrust him with major organisational responsibilities for the time being.
Siddharth, a former BSP Rajya Sabha member, was expelled from the party on August 2. He was accused of repeatedly indulging in indiscipline, adopting an anti-party stance and failing to properly discharge his responsibilities.
Mayawati described Siddharth’s decision to retire as a “correct step” but said it had come late. She said the BSP had sought his retirement in the larger interest of the party, its movement and Anand.
“Today, the announcement by Ashok Siddharth to retire from politics is a correct step, though taken very late,” Mayawati said.
Earlier on Thursday, Siddharth had announced his retirement from political and social life in an emotional post on X, a day after Mayawati had linked his retirement to any future reinstatement of responsibilities to Anand. Siddharth was expelled from the party on September 3, for the second time.
Siddharth said he was retiring from political and social life “right now”, adding that if he ever had to give his life for Mayawati, it would be a matter of pride for him.
“Mayawati’s order is greater than anything else in the world for me,” Siddharth said, adding that he had remained dedicated to the BSP’s mission for the past 35 years and had tried to discharge every responsibility assigned to him to the best of his ability.
Siddharth said all relationships were insignificant before Mayawati’s order.
“You made a small worker like me a member of your family. This is a debt I cannot repay in this lifetime,” he said.
He also swore by Gautam Buddha and his political mentor Kanshi Ram that he had never worked against the interests of the BSP.
Referring to Mayawati’s allegation that he had tried to influence Anand, Siddharth said he had not even met his son-in-law for several months, let alone advised him.
He alleged that some party colleagues had accused him of wanting to take control of the BSP and trying to mislead Anand because of the respect Mayawati had shown him. He asserted that there was “not the slightest truth” in the allegations.
“If you feel today that my remaining in political and social life is harming the Bahujan mission created by our saints, gurus and great personalities, then I am retiring from political and social life right now,” Siddharth said.
Siddharth added that he would remain indebted to Mayawati for life and said that giving his life for her would also be a matter of pride for him.
