New Delhi:

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has expelled her nephew and political heir Akash Anand from the party, citing his response to the party’s showcause notice, which she said was “selfish and arrogant”. 
His reply made it clear that he was under the influence of his father-in-law Ashok Siddharth, who has already been expelled from the party.

“He (Akash Anand) should have repented for this and shown his maturity. But on the contrary, the long response given by Shri Akash is not of his remorse and political maturity but is mostly selfish, arrogant and non-missionary under the influence of his father-in-law,” Mayawati said in a series of three posts on X.

“Therefore, in the interest of the self-respect and self-esteem movement of the most revered Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and following the tradition of discipline of the venerable Shri Kanshiram ji, Shri Akash Anand is expelled from the party, like his father-in-law, in the interest of the party and the movement,” read a rough translation of her last post on the matter.

Mayawati had expelled Ashok Siddharth over the weekend, accusing him of splitting the party down the middle. 

In a statement, she said he has “Done this heinous act of weakening the party by dividing it into two factions in the entire country, including Uttar Pradesh, which is absolutely intolerable.”

Akash Anand, Mayawati’s nephew who was once showcased as her political heir, was removed from all party posts yesterday. 

In May last year, she had removed Akash Anand from all important posts of the party, tagging him “immature”. But a month later, she named the party’s National Coordinator implying that he would be her political heir.