A year after the 2012 Assembly polls in which Congress faced a humiliating drubbing, Union Steel minister, Beni Prasad Verma held a section of his party leadership responsible for the debacle.
Verma claimed that some senior Congress leaders were on the pay-roll of the Samajwadi Party and they collected hefty sums to ensure defeat of Congress candidates as well as 'auction' party tickets.
" The 'B' team of Samajwadi Party is working within the Congress. The Congress leaders were bribed or offered lucrative deals just to ensure the defeat of the Congress
candidates," alleged the Union minister while analysing the defeat of the Congress in the last Assembly polls.
"Is it not surprising that a national party like Congress got 18 seats and Independents got more seats than the party," questioned Verma. levelling serious charges on a veteran Congress leader, the maverick leader alleged that even as the party's performance dipped every polls in UP, his property and wealth spiralled. He also pointed out that the said leader has even been extended high profile security
cover by the UP government. Making veiled reference towards a former ClP leader,
Verma said that he was at the helm for 25 years yet failed to do anything for the party.
"Some Congress leaders in lucknow are regularly briefing SP leaders of the party's strategy and are worked more as wellwishers of the SP than the Congress in the last
Assembly polls," Verma. Similarly without naming Digvijay Singh, Verma said that
Congress tickets in the last Assembly polls were 'sold' in Gonda, Barabanki, Rae Bareli, Amethi etc. which thgese candidates lost.
Going a step forward, Verma alleged : "Congress leaders spent Rs 5 crore to ensure the electoral defeat of my son Rakesh Verma but still he got good number of votes."
He charged that the dual characters of these leaders now stood exposed before party honcho Rahul Gandhi, who he termed as the only leader in the party who can head the
country as Prime Minister. Verma ruled out any threat from Narendra Modi saying
that there was no chance of the Gujrat CM becoming the PM of the country. "Our country will never accept a person as PM who was responsible for carnage,'' he said.
Taking on the central leadership over 4.5 reservation to minorities, Verma alleged that it was a well orchestrated conspiracy of some leaders to ensure defeat of Congress’s
candidates. "Giving reservation in the name of caste or religion like the one done in quota for Minorities is not just unconstitutional but a well calculated move of some Congress leaders to ensure defeat of the party," alleged the minister.
He pointed out that Goa, Punjab, UP and Uttrakhand went to poll simultenously and some Congress leaders in Goa raised the issue of 4.5 per cent reservation for Christians, while in Punjab they said it for Sikhs and in UP for Muslims. "This boomeranged as everyone felt cheated and found that the move was just to get votes," explained the Union minister.
When reminded that it was a cabinet decision, Verma rebutted that what could the governnment do when the proposal was sent by the Ministry of Minority Welfare, thereby targeting Salman Khursheed, who was then heading the ministry.
Verma also cited the Batala encounter issue saying that the Congress leaders raised it during last Assembly polls just to dent Rahul Gandhi’s efforts of reviviong the Congress party in UP.