Lucknow, Mar 2 (UNI) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Sunday removed her nephew Akash Anand, whom she had earlier declared as her successor, from the key post of National Coordinator, and named her younger brother Anand Kumar to the slot.
The surprising move came during an all-India meeting of BSP office-bearers, where Mayawati also expelled Akash's father-in-law Ashok Siddharth from the party and announced no one will be positioned as the successor to her in the outfit as long as she is alive.
Anand Kumar was till now the party Vice President.
Along with Anand, Mayawati appointed MP Ramji Suman as the second National Coordinator of the party.
Being the lone National Coordinator of BSP, Akash, wielded almost unlimited authority in the party. Considered as the young Turk, his position was considered next to Mayawati, even overshadowing Anand Kumar for so long. He also held the charge of several states and was named as successor by Mayawati on several occasions.
In a statement issued here, Mayawati said Ashok Siddharth was being expelled for "weakening the party by dividing it into two factions in the entire country".
"Following the footsteps of BSP founder Kanshi Ram and being his honest, loyal disciple and successor, I have also expelled Ashok Siddharth, the father-in-law of Akash Anand, who has done an extremely disgusting act of weakening the party by dividing it into two factions in the entire country including Uttar Pradesh, which is absolutely intolerable, in the interest of the party and the movement," the statement read.
Besides removing Anand from the heavyweight post, Mayawati also served a virtual warning to him.
"As far as Akash Anand is concerned in this matter, you know that he is married to Ashok Siddharth's daughter and now after the latter has been expelled from the party, how much influence does his father have on that girl and how much influence does his daughter have on Akash, we will have to look into all this very seriously, which till now does not seem to be positive at all," she said.
The BSP supremo said that in such a situation, in the interest of the party and the movement, Akash Anand has been separated from all the responsibilities of the party, for which not the party but his father-in-law Ashok Siddharth is completely responsible and which has damaged his political career along with causing damage to the party.
She said that now in place of Akash, Anand Kumar will continue to do all the work of the party as before. She said that in such a situation, with the consent of the party people, she has given the charge of BSP to her youngest brother Anand Kumar, who is also the National Vice President of the party.
Mayawati said, "In my absence and under my guidance, Anand, who left his government job and joined BSP, has been looking after all the paperwork of the party and especially the party's income tax and court-related matters and also the entire management of my tours during elections in the whole country."
She said that when the founder of the party, Kanshi Ram was seriously ill and during her tour, Anand took care of him in her absence and then he also started living with her. "Now, along with looking after all the important work of the party in Delhi, he also maintains full contact with the party people in the whole country, whose complete information he gives me from time to time," she said.
The BSP supremo said, "Therefore, keeping in mind the current circumstances, now along with being the National Vice President of the party, he has also been made the National Coordinator of the party."
She said, "To give him full support to Aand and to take the party forward in the country, now the party has appointed another National Coordinator, Ramji Gautam, about whose hard work and working style all the people of the party are very happy and along with me, Anand Kumar also has full faith in him."
She said, "Now I myself have also decided that I will not have any successor in the party as long as I am alive and till my last breath. This decision was wholeheartedly welcomed by the people of the party."
Along with this, the BSP supremo has reiterated that for her the party and the movement come first. "Brothers, sisters, their children, and other relatives all come later. In this context, she has also assured the people of the party that as long as she is alive, till her last breath, she will take the party forward with full honesty and loyalty," a party spokesman said.
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