Mayawati sacks nephew, says no party successor till ‘my last breath’

Anand Kumar is Mayawati’s younger brother while Gautam has been associated with the BSP for over 30 years, holding key organisational positions, and is currently in charge of Bihar where Assembly polls are due this year.

Mayawati attributed the latest move against Akash to his association with his father-in-law Ashok Siddharth, a former MP who was expelled from the BSP on disciplinary grounds. Akash was first removed from his post on May 7 last year, in the middle of Lok Sabha polls, after he was booked for “promoting enmity” during a speech in Sitapur — he was reinstated the next month.

Sources said the BSP supremo communicated her decision to Akash at a party meeting in Delhi on February 17 before announcing it formally Sunday at a meeting of senior leaders in Lucknow. Akash was conspicuous by his absence at the Lucknow meeting, and the chair usually allotted to him was occupied by Gautam.

“You are aware that Siddharth’s daughter is married to him (Akash). We will have to watch how much influence Siddharth will exert on his daughter after his expulsion and how much influence she will exert on Akash. That is not appearing positive so far. In such a situation, Akash has been removed from all party responsibilities in the interest of the party and the movement. Siddharth is completely responsible for this and has damaged the party while ruining Akash’s career,” Mayawati said in a statement.

Mayawati had expelled Siddharth as well as BSP’s former central-state coordinator Nitin Singh on February 12 after accusing them of indulging in “factionalism” and “anti-party activities”. Sources said the BSP chief moved against Siddharth after receiving complaints from partymen that he had not invited several senior leaders to a family wedding in Agra which was attended only by those perceived to be close to him.

On Sunday, elaborating on the action against Akash, Mayawati said she had always followed the footsteps of (BSP founder) Kanshiram as a “loyal disciple and successor”.

Sources said Anand Kumar will be based in Delhi, looking after party paperwork, meeting BSP workers and coordinating with state units. Gautam, meanwhile, will travel across the country to connect with party supporters, collect ground reports and ensure execution of Mayawati’s directives, sources said.

Mayawati’s latest move comes at a time when Akash’s brother Ishaan had created a buzz in the party with his presence at a closed-door meeting of the BSP’s UP unit in Lucknow two months ago. A day earlier, Ishaan had made his first significant public appearance at a press conference to mark Mayawati’s birth anniversary.

Mayawati is also cracking the whip at a time when the BSP’s electoral performance is in a tailspin after it failed to win even one Lok Sabha seat last year despite contesting from 488 seats across the country, including 79 in UP — a repeat of its 2014 show.

In last year’s general elections, the party’s vote share dipped to 2.04 per cent nationally and 9.39 per cent in UP. The BSP had won 10 seats in UP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the SP and RLD. The party’s best performance in the Lok Sabha polls was in 2009 when the party won 21 seats.

In UP, where the party is based, the BSP won only one Assembly seat in the 2022 state polls. Besides, its vote share dipped to 12.88 per cent in 2022 from 22.23 per cent in the 2017 Assembly polls when it won 19 seats. In 2012, the BSP had won 80 seats with a 26 per cent vote share when it lost power to SP.

Akash was the BSP in-charge of Delhi and Haryana in the recent Assembly polls. In the Delhi elections, the party’s vote share declined to 0.58 per cent from 0.71 per cent in 2020. In Haryana last year, the BSP contested from 35 seats and lost in all of them, with only four candidates saving their deposits. Akash had earlier led a 14-day ‘Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay Sankalp Yatra’ in Rajasthan ahead of the 2023 state polls there when the party contested in 185 seats but won only two.