He had described his partyman, PL Punia, as an outsider and said by 2014 Manmohan Singh would be too old, so he should make way for Rahul Gandhi.
Union steel minister Beni Prasad Verma is an old hand at stirring controversies. Some months ago while campaigning during the run up to the state assembly elections in his home state, Uttar Pradesh, Verma had his share of controversies.
He had described his partyman, PL Punia, as an outsider and said by 2014 Manmohan Singh would be too old, so he should make way for Rahul Gandhi.
Verma has suffered from a fresh bout of the foot-in-the-mouth syndrome. Forgetting that untamed inflation is a major cause of national concern, he said rising food prices do not bother him, as these mean that farmers get a better deal.
Beni had made the statement before reporters while commenting about the alleged bias in the media. “When reporting about the price rise, the media only talks about the rising prices of rice, dal and vegetables. I am actually happy with this price rise,” the minister had said on Sunday in his native district Barabanki near Lucknow. “The price rise of these things has benefited the farmers,” he had said by way of explanation of his remark.
His comments drew a sharp reaction from the opposition BJP, even as they left his Congress tongue-tied.
“It only shows that the Congress is cut off from ground realities, and its ministers are not aware of the sufferings of the people,” said BJP MP Shahnawaz Hussain.
Union law minister Salman Khurshid did put up a lame defence, arguing that the minister’s remarks had been read out of context. But then even he had no defence for the other controversial remark.
“If Rahul Gandhi is our candidate for the prime minister’s post in 2012, then the election would be a contest between him and Modi (the Gujarat chief minister),” he said. He, however, hastened to add that Rahul Gandhi would become the prime minister with the blessings of Manmohan Singh.
Verma was clearly taking a shot at his former leader Mulayam Singh Yadav who had recently aired his prime ministerial ambitions. “Small parties forget that they do not have the numbers. The fight is always between the Congress and the BJP, and there is no one in between,” he said.
Sources say the Congress leadership has pulled up Verma for his statement as a result of which the minister held a press conference again on Monday to explain his stand. However, he said he stood by what he had said. “I stand by the statement I had made yesterday (on Sunday) about price rise. But the media twisted it out of context. It was not reported correctly,” he said in Barabanki.
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