Will Maya’s crackdown on groupism improve BSP’s sagging pol fortunes?

Lucknow: After days of sluggish political activity following the announcement of Milkipur assembly byelection results, the sudden sacking of former Rajya Sabha member Ashok Siddharth, who was responsible for the BSP's affairs primarily in South India, became a talking point for observers.The move was surprising for political analysts and BSP workers as Ashok is also the father-in-law of Mayawati's nephew and BSP national coordinator Akash Anand, who is seen in the party as Mayawati's successor. Ashok's daughter Pragya Siddharth is married to Akash Anand.Coincidentally, BSP's fortunes started taking a dip after BSP president Mayawati brought her family members to the forefront of party activities, especially after the party won a majority in 2007 assembly elections.In 2012 assembly elections, the BSP could win only 80 seats, followed by only 19 seats in 2017.This was the time when political observers started saying that BSP was losing its Dalit vote base. By 2017, the BJP had become a major player winning 312 seats on its own, and 325 seats in alliance.Mayawati's nephew Akash Anand entered politics in 2017 at the age of 22. An MBA from London, he was introduced by Mayawati during a rally in Saharanpur, where Akash shared the dais with SP president Akhilesh Yadav and then RLD chief Ajit Singh.A month after the 2017 assembly election results, Mayawati, who had herself opposed dynasty politics, appointed her brother Anand Kumar as BSP national vice-president. She justified her U-turn on nepotism by saying that Anand would never contest elections or hold a public office.However, while refuting allegations of nepotism, Mayawati later said that Anand had decided against accepting the post of the party's vice-president.In 2019, BSP contested Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. Though the party won 10 seats, its vote share fell by 0.34% as compared to 2014 parliamentary elections.The BSP's vote share further came down in 2022 assembly polls to a meagre 12.88%.In Dec 2023, months before the Lok Sabha elections, Mayawati appointed Akash Anand the national coordinator of the party but removed him after the third phase of polling on May 7 saying he needed to attain "maturity" before assuming the post in the party.The party could garner only 9.24% votes in the Lok Sabha elections. Weeks after BSP's dismal show, Mayawati reappointed Akash Anand as national coordinator but the party could not put up a good show in Haryana and could get only 4.21% votes (a dip of 0.16%). The party failed to open its account in Haryana, though it had won a seat in the 2019 assembly polls.In the recent assembly elections in Delhi, the BSP's vote share was reduced from 0.71% to 0.58%.A section of BSP workers believe that Ashok Siddharth faced Mayawati's wrath due to groupism in the party. There are reports that one group has the patronage of Ashok Siddharth while the other is led by Ramji Gautam. Even before Akash Anand's marriage, Ashok Siddharth was one of the key members of Mayawati's core team. Ashok Siddharth's father had worked with BSP founder Kanshi Ram. It was Ashok Siddharth's closeness with Mayawati that he was made the MLC in 2009 and sent to Rajya Sabha in 2016. He was assigned the task of looking after party affairs in states like Karnataka, Telangana and Odisha.A section in the party believes that after Akash became his son-in-law, Ashok Siddharth started taking interest in states which were with Akash. They claim that Ashok promoted members of his coterie ignoring the party's larger interest. Nitin Singh, who was sacked along with Ashok Siddharth is close to him.Political observers believe that after Akash's younger brother Ishan Anand was seen during Mayawati's birthday celebrations, Ashok might have been rethinking on how to cement Akash Anand's position in the party. This might have left Ashok Siddharth pressing the panic button leading Mayawati to take tough action against him, they said.It remains to be seen if action against Ashok Siddharth will check the BSP's downfall or will Mayawati reconsider her decision like she did in case of Akash Anand.