Beni fires another salvo at Mulayam

How can a leader whose party never sticks to the truth, can never lie, he was alluding to the SP leader

Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma has continued to target his long-time rival Mulayam Singh Yadav, saying the latter’s recent praise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, L K Advani, points towards the changing political equations.

Two days after Yadav said Advani was a leader who “never lies”, the Union minister asked yesterday in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh: “How a leader, whose party never sticks to truth, can never lie?” He further said Yadav’s statement pointed towards “the political equations which may be emerging in the time to come”, PTI reported.

Yadav, while criticising the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, where his party is in power, said on March 23 in Lucknow: “Advani sahab says UP is in a very bad state and corruption is rampant... Now, I have to assess the situation when a senior leader like Advani says such a thing. He never lies. He always speaks the truth.”

Lately, Verma’s barbs at the SP chief have embarrassed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which is dependant on the support of SP’s  22 MPs.  

Verma’s recent remark that Yadav had “links with terrorists” had angered the SP brass, who demanded the steel minister’s removal from the government. Verma later expressed “regret” over his remarks. Sources said there would not be any haste move to remove Verma from the government as the Kurmi strong man enjoyed Rahul Gandhi’s blessings. The enmity between the two leaders dates back to the time Verma parted ways with the SP a few years ago.

The Congress has been cautious while commenting Yadav’s remarks on Advani. The party has publicly criticised the SP chief’s words heaping praise on Advani, but stopped short of openly attacking Yadav.

“We do not agree with Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav. The Congress believes BJP is culpable for the incidents at Ayodhya and it was the same NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government during which the communal riots in Godhra and Ahmedabad happened. To say that Advaniji does not say lies; we do not agree,” Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi told Business Standard.