'BSP being controlled by BJP', says Congress's Udit Raj as he slams Akash Anand's expulsion from BSP

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. She 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.

Is it not true that during the 2022 UP elections, Mayawati said that Samajwadi Party should not win, even if BJP wins? he asked, 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.