NEW DELHI: Dalit leader Mayawati sacked her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) vice president on Tuesday after he said she deserved to be prime minister while describing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as unfit because he had foreign blood.

The former chief minister of the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh state has emerged as a major unifier of opposition ranks after she helped her arch rival defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates in important by-polls.

The recent defeat in Phulpur and Gorakhpur parliamentary constituencies is seen as a major embarrassment for the BJP and a warning ahead of next year’s general elections.

Ms Maywati’s sacking of Jai Prakash Singh as national coordinator of the party is expected to further cement opposition unity.

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 on Monday, he made several comments on Mr Gandhi and his foreign ancestry from his Italian-born 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, 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.

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.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2018