Delhi polls latest blow, what’s behind Mayawati’s latest firings in BSP

According to BSP insiders, Siddharth was keen on strengthening Anand’s control over the party and this did not sit well with a section of senior party leaders. Anand was thrown out of the party in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections, weeks after he targeted the BJP at a poll rally. He was reinstated in June 2024, weeks after the party recorded its worst-ever poll showing, with Mayawati urging party leaders to “give him more respect than earlier”.

“Some leaders (aligned against Anand) complained to the leadership when Siddharth ji did not invite them to a wedding function in Agra, where several other senior leaders were present, a couple of days ago. In October, during a meeting for the Delhi polls, when Mayawati had asked these leaders (who complained) about the formation of coordination committees, one of them confidently assured her that all the preparations had been made. But Akash ji countered him saying all the committees had not been formed. That leader then started saying everywhere that senior and experienced leaders were not being respected in the party,” a BSP leader said when asked about differences in the party.

A leader close to Akash said that five BSP factions operated in Delhi during the elections, with one working against Mayawati’s nephew. “In the Delhi polls, Akash was in charge of the campaign and at at least two rallies, the candidate arrived at the venue after Akash,” said the leader.

A BSP leader said Siddharth shielded Akash on several occasions and that upset those who do not wish to see Mayawati’s nephew gain control of the party. A senior BSP leader said while the action against Siddharth and Singh was surprising, it was clear that the party leadership wanted to send the message that no one was bigger than the organisation.

Siddharth hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad district and was elected to the UP Legislative Council in 2009 when the party was in power in the state. In 2016, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. Recently, he was given charge of the party’s election efforts in Maharashtra but was removed from the post a month before the elections.

Singh who is considered close to Siddharth was the party’s Rajasthan in-charge. He was tasked with supervising the Delhi Assembly elections, but the efforts did not bear fruit. “I have always followed the directions of Behan ji. Her decision is accepted, and I will keep following whatever the party leadership asks me,” he told The Indian Express. Siddharth did not respond to requests for comment.