Lucknow:, March 4 -- The exit or ouster of high-profile leaders is not a new development in Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), but the unceremonious removal of her nephew Akash Anand from key party posts by BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday followed by his expulsion on Monday has sent ripples in the party.

Mayawati had been grooming Akash Anand (30), son of her brother Anand Kumar, as her political successor since 2017. She appointed Akash Anand as the party's national coordinator in June 2019. In December 2023, she named him as her political heir.

During the Lok Sabha election campaign in May 2024, she removed Akash from the post of party national coordinator, as well as her successor, after an FIR in a hate speech case was lodged against him in Si...