ANAS Sarwar has reignited the claim that Kezia Dugdale was ousted in a left-wing plot.

The centrist candidate hoping to replace here as Scottish Labour leader said he thought there may have been a coordinated effort to remove Ms Dugdale in the summer.

In an STV hustings with left-wing rival Richard Leonard on Wednesday night, Mr Sarwar said: “I think there possibly was one [a plot]”.

The SNP said the contest was increasingly shambolic.

Ms Dugdale quit suddenly on August 29 after two years as Scottish Labour leader citing personal reasons, a reference to her new relationship with an SNP MSP.

Her exit immediately gave rise to rumours that she had been forced out by people close to Jeremy Corbyn, who she opposed becoming UK leader, although she denied it.

Mr Sarwar’s explosive claim that she indeed have been ousted is the latest twist in a race which has already been mired in accusations of vote rigging and ghost members.

Mr Sarwar millionaire status, his links to the Sarwar family business and his choice of a £10,000-a-year private school for his children have also come under the spotlight.

Simmering allegations of a plot first boiled over in the last week of September after a leaked recording of interim Scottish Labour leader Alex Rowley appeared in the press.

Mr Rowley, who had promised to be neutral in the leadership contest, was recorded telling a student at the UK labour conference that he backed his fellow left-winger Mr Leonard.

Mr Rowley also admitted he and others on the Left ahead made contingency plans for Ms Dugdale’s departure in the belief she could quit before the 2021 Holyrood election.

It prompted one of Mr Sarwar’s closest allies, Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie, to denounce Mr Rowley and claim he and Mr Leonard had plotted against Ms Dugdale.

In an extraordinary press release, Ms Baillie said: “What is most concerning is the revelations about a plot against Kezia Dugdale.

“It will infuriate members to learn that some MSPs were working behind the scenes to undermine her and replace her with Richard Leonard. Richard must urgently answer questions about his role in this plot.”

The statement was infamously dismissed as “p***” by one of Mr Leonard’s campaign team.

Asked by hustings chair Colin Mackay whether he thought there had been a plot to remove Ms Dugdale, Mr Sarwar was initially reluctant to comment on the issue.

“I think only Kez Dugdale could answer that question, whether she believes there’s a plot.”

But reminded Ms Baillie said there was a plot and pressed for his own view, Mr Sarwar said: “I would hope there wasn’t a plot. Perhaps there might have been. I think Kez Dugdale maybe believes there was a plot…. I think there possibly was one.”

Asked if he thought Mr Leonard had been part of a plot, he replied: “No, no, Richard is my friend, before this contest, during it, and long after it.”

Mr Leonard fiercely denied being part of any conspiracy against Ms Dugdale, and threw in a coded dig at Mr Sarwar, who had been part of an effort to oust Mr Corbyn last year.

Asked if he had been part of a plot, Mr Leonard replied: “Absolutely not. If there was a plot I wasn’t aware of it. And I absolutely and categorically can tell you tonight that I have never had, and never intend to have, any involvement in any plot against any leader.”

Mr Leonard also denied there was anything untoward in trade union efforts to sign up new members to help his candidacy.

Edinburgh South MP Ian Murray, one of Mr Sarwar’s supporters, last week claimed a recruitment drive by Unite might have “rigged” the contest Mr Leonard's favour.

Mr Leonard said: “I think we need to take this into some sort of perspective. I do not think for a minute there has been any attempt to rig any vote by any trade union. I refute that completely, and I think it’s just a little bit mischievous for people to suggest otherwise.”

Mr Sarwar also suggested there was a racial undercurrent to claims that his campaign had signed up large numbers of supporters from the Asian community.

He said: “Anyone who is briefing to the journalists about Asian-sounding names should seriously take a themselves. We're in the Labour party, the Labour party that is an open, tolerant labour party. The Labour party I want to lead, and the country I want to lead as First minister, is an open diverse outward looking nation. I don’t care what the person’s background, I don’t care their race or their religion or the colour of their skin.”

Mr Leonard added: “Some of the things I’ve seen in print I don’t approve of at all. I think they are unhelpful, inaccurate and lead to an undercurrent of prejudice that I will not stand for.

“And certainly if anyone in my team was involved in any of that, they would be given short shrift and got rid of instantly.”

Mr Sarwar also suggested that Labour should not be in coalition with the Tories or SNP in local government as both parties were “imposing austerity” on communities.

Since May’s council elections, Labour has been in power with the SNP in six of the 13 councils it helps run, including Edinburgh, Fife, Stirling and Dumfries & Galloway.

Labour councillors in Aberdeen are currently suspended for striking a deal with the Tories.

Mr Leonard said coalitions were an inevitable consequence of the voting system used for councils since 2007.

He said: “This is a product of the electoral system which throws up the likelihood of these kind of coalitions. So it’s a result of proportional representation, which I and many others campaigned against."