BJP demands inquiry into Shivpal's charges against Beni

BJP today demanded a high-level inquiry into SP leader Shivpal Yadav's allegations of opium smuggling and using charas against Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma.
"Shivpal Yadav is a senior (state) cabinet minister and if he has levelled allegations against the union minister, he must have done it responsibly. A high-level inquiry should be conducted into the matter," state BJP chief spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak told reporters here.
Shivpal had yesterday accused the Congress minister of "smuggling opium" and "using charas".
"You all know and you have also read that Beni Prasad smokes a lot. These days he is smoking a lot...He mixes something in the tobacco...You have read also that he is into smuggling of opium. He mixes charas in his cigarettes. He is doing both these things," Yadav had told reporters in Varanasi.

Accusing both the Congress and SP for taking political dignity to a "new low", Pathak said, "The manner in which the Congress and SP leaders are trading charges against one another for the last few months has brought shame to politics."
He also demanded a high-level probe into Beni's allegations that SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has "links with terrorists".
The BJP leader said first Beni accused Mulayam of having terrorist links and then said he had cheated upon Muslims and that Lok Sabha election would be SP's funeral procession.
"The SP leaders hit back alleging that the union minister has lost his mental balance and demanded his dismissal from the cabinet...What message do both the parties want to give who practice politics in the name of Mahatma Gandhi and Ram Manohar Lohia?" he asked.