Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati’s decision to “completely free” her nephew Akash Anand of any party responsibilities and act against senior functionaries — including Anand’s father-in-law Ashok Siddharth — “in the interests of the party” is being seen in the party as a step to maintain her authority and the only power centre.
According to BSP leaders, this has now moved beyond the question of one leader being removed from a post and brought to the fore the uncertainty that surrounds the party as it heads to next year’s Assembly elections without any MLA or MP in the state. The question that is in the mind of all its workers is who from the next generation will carry forward Mayawati’s political legacy. And as Akash finds himself on the outs with his aunt once more, it appears that his younger brother Ishan is being groomed as the party’s next-generation face.
Mayawati’s decision came a week after she removed Akash as the party’s national convener and shortly after she asked Siddharth, a former Rajya Sabha MP, to retire from politics to protect his son-in-law’s political future. BSP sources said Mayawati was upset with Akash because he made some statements of his own in speeches to BSP workers in Hathras and Jewar last month. He was supposed to communicate only “Behenji ka sandesh (Mayawati’s message)”, said an insider.
In a social media post on Thursday, Siddharth said Mayawati’s command was more important to him than his family and political relationships. He denied influencing Akash and said Mayawati should decide whether his son-in-law should be given any responsibility in the party again.
“All that exchange of messages between ‘Behenji (Mayawati)’ and Ashok Siddharth through social media posts, and the remarks made against Ashok and Akash in the past, clearly indicates there is some tussle within the family. If they are expressing that on social media, they must clarify it to party workers who have been confused for the past two years. The only message that is clear so far is that Behanji is the supreme authority in the party and the family,” said a senior BSP leader.
In her statement on Thursday, Mayawati hinted at the churn in the family, accusing Siddharth and Akash of being more attached to “personal and family interests” than the success of the BSP and the Bahujan movement. She also said that while Akash had earlier shared her ‘X’ posts to demonstrate his “loyalty”, he did not share a recent post on Siddharth.
At the centre of the family tussle is the influence Siddharth allegedly wields. A senior BSP leader said he is a friend of Akash’s father Anand Kumar, Mayawati’s younger brother. In March 2023, Akash married Siddharth’s daughter Pragya. Both of them studied in London. While Pragya studied medicine, Akash got his MBA degree there.
Akash was initially projected as Mayawati’s political heir ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but was removed as national coordinator in the middle of the election, stripped of his status as political heir, and barred from campaigning. At the moment, Mayawati said the directive would remain in force till her nephew attained “maturity”. The move came after the police in Sitapur in UP booked Akash for promoting enmity after he referred to the BJP government as “aatankwadiyo ki sarkar (government of terrorists)”. A month later, he was reinstated as her “lone successor” and the party’s national coordinator.
In March 2025, while sacking Akash from all party posts, the BSP chief wrote, “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.” Mayawati had then added that Siddharth had damaged the party and ruined Akash’s career.
Siddharth, whose influence was linked to his ties with the BSP first family, fell out of favour with Mayawati last year after some party leaders accused him of promoting factionalism. The allegations were levelled after he did not invite several senior leaders to a family wedding in Agra. However, last month, while expelling him for the second time, Mayawati said that his expulsion in February 2025 was linked to a violation of directives, particularly on ticket distribution in Maharashtra. He was reinstated in September 2025 on the condition that he not “repeat such mistakes”.
Who is Ishan Anand?
Akash’s exit from the BSP comes a week after Ishan attended a meeting of the party’s national office-bearers. At the end of the meeting, Ishan was appointed the party’s Chief Sector Coordinator, a new post created just for him.
Outside Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the BSP has divided its organisation into two sectors, with the first a cluster made up of 10 states and the second including states.
Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Gautam is in charge of Sector 1, while former national coordinator Rajaram is in charge of Sector 2. “As per organisational structure, Ishan will directly interact with both Gautam and Rajaram. He is empowered to call them for meetings. Ishan will report to Mayawati and his father and party vice-president Anand Kumar,” said a leader.
Ishan is a law graduate from Westminster University in London. BSP sources said that before he was brought into the party, he managed hotels run by the family and a pharma distribution business.
Ishan is still politically untested and his growing visibility does not amount to a decision on succession, claimed some BSP leaders. However, according to them, the timing is significant as it comes at a time when his elder brother’s political space in the party has narrowed. The BSP is now left without a leader who can prove to be the generational bridge and connect with young voters. This comes at a time when the party’s electoral base is shrinking and parties are eyeing the votes moving away from it. In recent years, the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) of Nagina MP Chandra Shekhar has grown in popularity among the Dalit youth.
