Lucknow, Sep 11 (IANS) Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput on Friday launched a sharp attack on BSP chief Mayawati over the expulsion of her nephew Akash Anand from the Bahujan Samaj Party, saying that “as long as Mayawati ji is there, Akash Anand doesn’t need any enemy”, while the Samajwadi Party said Anand would be welcome if he was looking for a new political foothold.

Reacting to Mayawati’s decision to sever political ties with Anand, Rajput said the BSP chief’s treatment of her nephew appeared to be damaging his political future.

“As long as Mayawati ji is there, Akash Anand doesn’t need any enemy. The way Mayawati ji is tormenting her nephew, or our nephew, because Akash Anand has called Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav his uncles, it seems like Akash Anand’s future is being ruined. Now, Akash Anand has to decide what he will do next,” Rajput told IANS.

The Samajwadi Party, meanwhile, maintained that the decision was an internal matter of the BSP, but indicated that its doors were open to Anand.

SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand said party president Akhilesh Yadav had already made it clear that the BSP’s decision was an internal affair and that the Samajwadi Party had no comment to make on it.

However, Chand added, “But if Akash Anand is looking for a political foothold somewhere else, he is welcome in the SP.”

The reactions came after Mayawati on Thursday announced that she had “completely freed” Anand from the BSP, marking another major turn in the political trajectory of her nephew.

The announcement came a day after Mayawati had said that she could reconsider supporting Anand if his father-in-law, Ashok Siddharth, withdrew from active politics. Siddharth subsequently announced his decision to “renounce” political life in an emotional post.

The development followed Anand’s removal as BSP national coordinator last week. Mayawati subsequently announced that he would also be removed from the party.

“The people in the party feel…he should be completely freed from the party from today. Therefore, if Akash Anand wants to remain independent in the party, he is free to do so; that is, he has now been completely freed from the party,” Mayawati said in a post on X.

The latest developments have triggered political reactions in Uttar Pradesh, with the Congress and SP weighing in on Anand’s expulsion even as the BSP leadership maintains that the decision concerns the party’s internal affairs.

–IANS

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