Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday sacked party vice-president Jai Prakash Singh for making comments against Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s appearance. He was also sacked from his post of national coordinator of the party.
The action comes a day after Mr. Singh dismissed Mr. Gandhi as an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At a party workers zonal meeting in Lucknow om Monday, he made several comments on Mr. Gandhi and his foreign ancestry from his mother Sonia Gandhi’s side. “Had Rahul Gandhi looked like his father [Rajiv Gandhi], he could have had a chance of success in Indian politics but he turned out like his mother [Sonia Gandhi], who is a foreigner. His blood is foreign. I can tell you with all surety that Rahul Gandhi can never succeed in Indian politics,” he said.
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Mr. Singh made a strong pitch for his party chief as the prime ministerial candidate, saying there was only one alternative left in the country, Ms. Mayawati, and that Mr. Gandhi “does not stand anywhere.”
Ms. Mayawati said his views did not reflect the “humanitarian ideology and policies” of the BSP. It was also against the party's ''culture'' to make unrestrained personal comments against top leadership of rival parties. “His remarks are borne out of his personal thinking and not of the BSP,” she said.
Mr. Singh was promoted only in May last when Ms. Mayawati conducted a major rejig of the organisation. Prior to that, he served as a coordinator of Delhi and Rajasthan.
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