Mutual understanding, which is still a work in progress among Opposition leaders, got a serious boost on Tuesday, 17 July, when BSP supremo Mayawati removed her own party's national coordinator, Jai Prakash Singh, from his post, for targeting Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia.
Singh, during an address to party's first workers, said that Rahul Gandhi cannot become the Prime Minister of India because he looks too similar to his "foreigner mother" Sonia Gandhi, and not his father Rajiv.
His comment had a ripple effect, with the BJP once again saying that the chinks in the "Grand Alliance" were visible even before it could take shape. Some in political circles saw his remarks as a hatchet job by the ruling establishment, which fell flat on its face within hours of some TV channels trying to portray it as a big issue.
However, Mayawati's decision laid to rest the speculation that all was not well between the leaders of the various Opposition parties seeking to reach a consensus ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Mayawati also cautioned party workers from all over the country against speaking for or against any alliance until the high command takes a call.
"I came to know about BSP national coordinator Jai Prakash Singh's speech in which he spoke against the ideology of BSP and also made personal remarks against the leadership of rival parties. It's his personal opinion. So, he has been removed from his post with immediate effect," Mayawati said in a press conference on Tuesday.
Singh had strongly pitched for Mayawati to be the next prime minister of the country, saying that she had played an instrumental role in the formation of HD Kumaraswamy's government in Karnataka, and adding that only she had the ability to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“She is not only a towering Dalit leader but also has the support of all the communities. Time has come when she should be made the PM after the 2019 Lok Sabha election,” Hindustan Times quoted Singh as saying.
However, Singh targeted Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi during his address, which is why the party chief removed him from his post a day later. Singh had said Gandhi can not be the prime minister because he looked more like his mother than his father, and as his mother is a foreigner.
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