Congress Says BSP Now 'BJP-ised', Invites Expelled Akash Anand To Party

Mayawati on Sunday removed her nephew Akash Anand from all party posts and said she would not name a successor in her lifetime. She said that Akash's response to her action was "selfish and arrogant".

Akash Anand with BSP chief Mayawati.

Source : PTI Images

New Delhi: Slamming BSP supremo Mayawati after she expelled her nephew Akash Anand from the party, Congress leader Udit Raj on Thursday claimed that the move showed the BSP is being controlled by the BJP, and invited Anand to join the Congress.

Mayawati would not have taken such a "suicidal step" without being under pressure, he said.

Mayawati on Sunday removed her nephew Akash Anand from all party posts, appointing his father Anand Kumar and Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Gautam as national coordinators in his place, and said she would not name a successor in her lifetime. Kumar, however, turned down the offer.

A day after Akash Anand's removal, Mayawati on Monday said she expelled him "in the interest of the party and the movement".

Mayawati said that Akash's response to her action against him on Sunday was "selfish and arrogant".

Addressing a press conference here, Congress leader Udit Raj said the rise of the BSP has been different from other parties as it started with a social movement and later became a political party but has now been "BJP-ised".

The national chairman of Dalit, OBC, Minorities and Adivasi (DOMA) Confederation said that making Akash Anand coordinator twice and then removing him shows that the BSP is being "controlled by the BJP".

"Mayawati ji would not have taken such a suicidal step without pressure...Akash Anand had stated that there should be an alliance with the Congress-SP in the upcoming assembly elections, otherwise we will remain zero, this has troubled the BJP internally," he claimed.

The BJP's vote bank is not going to increase from anywhere else as even raising the issue of Pasmanda Muslims did not help, he said.

"The BSP remains the only party whose vote can be dented by the BJP and this would have been difficult if Akash Anand was there," Raj claimed.

Asked if he had spoken with Anand, Raj told PTI, "I invite Anand and along with him all those who are inspired by Kanshi Ram's movement to join the Congress to strengthen the 'Samvidhan Bachao Andolan'.

Is it not true that during the 2022 UP elections, Mayawati said that Samajwadi Party should not win, even if BJP wins? he asked at the press conference, alleging that she directly indicated the BJP should be made to win.

"Is it not true that during the Lok Sabha elections, when Akash Anand gave an aggressive speech against the BJP, he was removed from the post of coordinator within 24 hours? Is it not true that if the BSP had been a part of INDIA bloc during the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP would not have been able to form the government at the Centre?" Raj said.

"Apart from Satish Mishra ji, there is no leader in the last 20 years who is authorised to speak to the press, why is that so? Is Mishra ji the only Ambedkarite left?" the Congress leader said. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)