Overview
- The BSP chief announced on Sunday that former Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Siddharth and party coordinator Randhir Singh Beniwal have been expelled from the party with immediate effect.
- Mayawati said Siddharth was previously removed during the Maharashtra polls, later reinstated under conditions, reassigned outside Uttar Pradesh and then relieved of all duties before this second expulsion for repeated indiscipline.
- The leader clarified that she alone will finalise candidates for the Uttar Pradesh polls and rejected claims that her nephew Akash Anand would decide party tickets.
- As part of a national reshuffle, Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Gautam was reaffirmed as Punjab in‑charge to oversee the state campaign through the assembly and subsequent Lok Sabha polls.
- Observers say the moves are meant to curb factional lobbies, tighten discipline and centralise decision‑making in a party that has a reduced legislative presence but retains a measurable vote share ahead of key state contests.