Mayawati ‘frees’ her nephew Akash Anand from BSP after his father-in-law quits politics

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday said her nephew Akash Anand has been “completely freed” from the party, shortly after his father-in-law and former Rajya Sabha member Ashok Siddharth announced his retirement from politics.

“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,” Ms. Mayawati posted on X.

The development comes a day after the BSP chief asked Mr. Siddharth to take “sanyas (quit) from politics” for his son-in-law to get any important responsibility in the party.

Mr. Siddharth announced his retirement through a post on X, saying the BSP chief’s command was more important to him than his family and political relationships.

Calling his retirement a “belated and right step”, Ms. Mayawati said, “Had he had taken this decision earlier, the BSP and Akash Anand would not have had to face continuous adverse circumstances. Nor would I have had to take tough decisions in the larger interest of the party and the movement amid preparations for the Assembly election.”

The BSP chief said both Mr. Siddharth and Mr. Anand were more attached to personal and family interests than to the success of the party and its movement. She criticised her nephew’s response to her social media posts wherein she said while Mr. Akash had earlier reposted her X posts to show his loyalty, he did not bother to endorse her recent post about Mr. Siddharth.

Mr. Anand has been drawing the BSP chief’s wrath from time to time. He was expelled from the party during the 2024 Lok Sabha poll and reinstated later and promoted to the post of party national coordinator.