Lucknow, July 17 : BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday sacked senior party leader Jai Prakash Singh, a day after he triggered a row by saying that foreign blood won't let Congress President Rahul Gandhi succeed in Indian politics and lead the country.

"I came to know about Jai Prakash Singh's speech in which he spoke against the ideology of the 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 statement.

The removal came after Jai Prakash Singh said at a public meeting on Monday that Gandhi had grown up like his mother Sonia Gandhi and not like his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"Had he grown up like his father Rajiv Gandhi, he would have succeeded in politics for once. But he has grown up like his mother who is a foreigner. I say this with certainty that Rahul Gandhi won't ever succeed in Indian politics and lead India," the now expelled BSP leader said.

The remarks came as opposition parties are trying to stitch an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress and the BSP are exploring a partnership in Madhya Pradesh that votes later this year to elect a new state government.

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Guwahati(PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday said he would soon visit tea gardens, owned by public sector enterprise Andrew Yule, to revive its estates as workers are facing immense hardship.

Kumaraswamy, the minister of steel and heavy industries, thanked Assam Industries Minister Bimal Borah for apprising him of various challenges being faced by the tea gardens and the need to support the management to alleviate suffering of workers.

"We are concerned about the economic challenges and hardship of the tea gardens owned by Andrew Yule Group in Assam and its impact on the wage earners," Kumaraswamy said at a press conference here.

The tea garden wage earners will also get a 20 per cent Durga Puja bonus, like workers of other gardens, he said.

Referring to his recent visit to the Cement Corporation of India Ltd factory at Bokajan in Karbi Anglong district, Kumaraswamy said there was a plan for the revival of the cement industry in the state by investing Rs 700 crore.

He also emphasised on the need for a cement manufacturing unit in the northeastern states.

On the current development of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) policy utilisation in Assam, the union minister said more than Rs 2,000 crore would be invested for battery charging stations and nearly 70,000 such facilities will be set up across the country.

More than 18,000 e-buses will also be purchased to fulfil the goal of carbon emission reduction, Kumaraswamy added.