Mayawati sacks BSP leader over Rahul Gandhi remarks

Lucknow: BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday sacked newly-appointed party vice-president Jai Prakash Singh, a day after the latter said Congress president Rahul Gandhi could never succeed in Indian politics because his mother was a foreigner.

Mayawati said she took Singh's "personal views" against the leadership of a rival political party very seriously and was removing him as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national vice-president with immediate effect.

At a meeting of BSP workers here yesterday, Singh had said if Rahul Gandhi was like his father (former prime minister late Rajiv Gandhi), there was some hope. However, he had followed the footsteps of his mother, Sonia Gandhi, who was a foreigner, and would therefore, never succeed in Indian politics, the BSP leader had added.

Singh, who hails from western Uttar Pradesh, was appointed as the BSP vice-president in May.

Mayawati said Singh's remarks reflected his personal opinion and were against the party's culture.

"I came to know that yesterday, he (Singh) made a statement against the top national leadership of a rival party, thereby deviating from the policies of the BSP," she said in a statement.

Distancing herself from Singh's comment, Mayawati noted that he had said a number of "unrestrained things, which is completely against the culture of the BSP".

"Taking this very seriously and in the interest of the party and the BSP movement, our party, which had recently appointed Jai Prakash Singh as the national vice-president, has, with immediate effect, removed him from the post," she said.

Singh was also removed as the BSP national coordinator, the statement added.