Bahujan community has high hopes for Akash Anand, says Mayawati in latest diktat

• Mayawati praised Akash Anand for putting the BSP above family ties and announced public meetings and seminars he will address across three states.

• She ruled out readmitting his father-in-law, Ashok Siddharth, who retired from politics in September after being expelled from the party.

• Anand’s brother, Ishan, will assist with election-related work and paperwork at the BSP’s central office in Delhi.

BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday praised her nephew Akash Anand for placing the party and its movement above family relationships, announcing a series of programmes he will address across Uttar Pradesh and other states.

She also firmly rejected speculation that Anand’s father-in-law, former Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Siddharth, could return to the BSP. Siddharth, who had been expelled from the party, announced his retirement from politics in September.

In a post on X, Mayawati said Anand had shown maturity following Siddharth’s retirement and was working hard to meet the expectations of the Bahujan community. Anand was recently reappointed as the party’s national coordinator.

His upcoming schedule includes public meetings in Bulandshahr on 28 October, Saharanpur on 2 November, Ayodhya on 20 November, Agra on 22 November and Kanpur Nagar on 29 November.

He will also attend a BSP seminar in Punjab on Constitution Day, 26 November. On 6 December, the death anniversary of B R Ambedkar, he will address a seminar or public meetings in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar district.

Mayawati said Anand’s renewed participation in party work indicated that Siddharth bore greater responsibility than her nephew for earlier developments she described as unpleasant. She added that Siddharth had been advised to retire from politics after his expulsion.

Rejecting any possibility of his readmission, she said: “There is not an iota of truth in the rumours that Ashok Siddharth, like Akash Anand, will be taken back into the party.”

The BSP chief urged workers to guard against rumours and attempts by people pursuing personal interests to mislead them. She asked party members to work towards making Anand’s assigned programmes successful.

In a separate announcement, Mayawati said Anand’s brother, Ishan Anand, had completed his law studies in London and would work under her guidance as an active party worker at the BSP’s central office in Delhi. His responsibilities would mainly involve election-related work and other paperwork.

With PTI inputs