As the government plunged into crisis after the withdrawal of support by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), one of the saviours which bailed out the government lost no time to extract its pound of flesh from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Samajwadi Party (SP) which had buried the issue of ‘terrorists’ remarks made by steel minister Beni Prasad Verma against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, on Wednesday again raked up the matter in both houses of Parliament leading to adjournment.
Considering the seriousness of the issue and realising that SP’s support is imminent for the survival of the government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Yadav in a bid to pacify him. This led to Verma holding a meeting with Prime Minister and then expressing regret over his statement, ‘I am sorry if my remarks have hurt anybody’s sentiments,’ said Verma. The steel minister had earlier stuck with his remark in which he had alleged that SP chief had terrorist links.
The SP, however, seems to be in no mood to let go of the matter so easily with sources indicating that Yadav himself is not satisfied with Verma’s regret and he might push for Verma’s resignation. ‘The decision on Beni will be discussed at party’s parliamentary meet on Thursday morning,’ said SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, thus creating a suspense over the matter. Later in the day, Yadav drove down to the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, thus giving rise to speculation about possible alignment of the two parties, both the leaders, however, termed the meeting as an apolitical.
The Congress Party had also reprimanded Verma over his remarks and were not seen defending the steel minister. Sources within the party said that resignation of Verma is being contemplated within the party, as Verma seems to have fallen out of favours after the disastrous results in the UP assembly polls. The Congress was not able to win a single seat in Verma’s Gonda constituency. The day also saw Samajwadi Party gaining support on the matter from the most unlikely politcal party that is the BJP.
Considering the seriousness of the issue and realising that SP’s support is imminent for the survival of the government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Yadav in a bid to pacify him. This led to Verma holding a meeting with Prime Minister and then expressing regret over his statement, ‘I am sorry if my remarks have hurt anybody’s sentiments,’ said Verma. The steel minister had earlier stuck with his remark in which he had alleged that SP chief had terrorist links.
The SP, however, seems to be in no mood to let go of the matter so easily with sources indicating that Yadav himself is not satisfied with Verma’s regret and he might push for Verma’s resignation. ‘The decision on Beni will be discussed at party’s parliamentary meet on Thursday morning,’ said SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, thus creating a suspense over the matter. Later in the day, Yadav drove down to the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, thus giving rise to speculation about possible alignment of the two parties, both the leaders, however, termed the meeting as an apolitical.
The Congress Party had also reprimanded Verma over his remarks and were not seen defending the steel minister. Sources within the party said that resignation of Verma is being contemplated within the party, as Verma seems to have fallen out of favours after the disastrous results in the UP assembly polls. The Congress was not able to win a single seat in Verma’s Gonda constituency. The day also saw Samajwadi Party gaining support on the matter from the most unlikely politcal party that is the BJP.