Akhilesh Yadav hints at taking Akash Anand into SP after Mayawati expels him

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday hinted at the possibility of inducting Akash Anand into the party, hours after BSP chief Mayawati announced that her nephew had been “completely freed” from the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Asked at a press conference whether the SP would take Anand if he wanted to join, Yadav replied in jest, “If you bring him, we will take him.”

Yadav, however, said Anand’s removal was an internal matter of the BSP and that leaders of other parties should not comment on it.

“It is a decision of their party. People from other parties cannot say anything about it,” he said.

Mayawati announced Anand’s expulsion on Thursday, saying he appeared to be “double-minded” and questioning whether he could effectively work for the BSP when his personal and family interests seemed to take precedence over his political career and the Bahujan movement.

She also cited Anand’s failure to repost one of her earlier social media posts as an indication that he was more attached to family ties than to the BSP and its movement.

Anand, 31, had already been removed from all key organisational responsibilities, including that of national coordinator, on September 3. Mayawati had earlier projected him as her political successor.

The latest development also comes after Anand had publicly targeted Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a BSP meeting in Hathras last month. Referring to their ages, Anand had said he was 30 while Yadav was 50 and asked how else he could address the SP chief if not as “uncle”.

Asked about the remark, Yadav responded with a joke about the different Hindi terms for uncle, including “chacha”, “mausa” and “phupha”. He said he was surprised no one had asked him about “phupha”, in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent “naraz phupha” remark.

Yadav also made a veiled reference to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while discussing Anand’s remarks.

Anand’s political future has come under renewed focus after his latest break with the BSP. His removal marks a sharp turn in the political journey of the young leader who had been positioned by Mayawati as a possible successor.