Never Expelled From BSP: Mayawati Sets Record Straight On Nephew Akash Anand

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati issued a long clarification today about the status of her nephew and presumed political heir Aakash Anand, after media reports that she termed "exaggeration". Akash Anand, she insisted, had never been expelled from the party owing to his earlier performance. 

Mayawati had reappointed Akash Anand as the party's national convenor yesterday, reversing her month-old decision to remove him from the organisation. 

The move yet another twist in the leadership issue of the party that once ruled Uttar Pradesh and broke fresh grounds with its championship of Dalits in one of the most caste sensitive states of the country. Most of the issues that made headlines involved Mayawati's brother Anand Kumar and his two sons -- Akash and Ishan Anand. 

Read: Month After Ouster, Mayawati Reappoints Nephew Akash Anand To Key Party Post

"As it is known that Mr. Aakash Anand was brought back into the BSP yesterday and appointed as the party's National Coordinator again, and he has been engaged in the party's work. However, today most media outlets have exaggerated this matter quite a bit, writing that Mr. Aakash Anand was expelled from the party four times and has now been taken back into the party and made the National Coordinator again," her post read.

"I want to inform you that even before Mr. Aakash Anand's marriage, he was playing a very active role in the party, due to which he has never been expelled from the party. But after his relationship with Mr. Ashok Siddharth - who made attempts to tarnish Mr. Aakash Anand's image quite a lot for his own selfish interests".

Due to this, Siddharth had to be expelled from the party, and was reinstated after he realised his mistake, she wrote. She then added that she is convinced that he has quit politics for good and so there is no question of expelling Akash in the future either. Everyone is now hopeful that "he will continue to advance in politics," she added. 

On September 3, Mayawati had removed Akash Anand from the post of national convenor, saying he needed greater "maturity". 

 week later, on September 10, she announced that she was setting him "completely free" from the BSP, accusing him of placing family interests before that of the party.