Fuming over reports suggesting he was reprimanded for his jibes against Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Union steel minister Beni Prasad Verma claimed Thursday he felt “humiliated” and threatened to quit the Congress if he was “obstructed” in his “fight” with the Yadav chieftain.
Belying claims by AICC UP in-charge Madhusudan Mistry that Mr Verma had expressed regret and promised not to speak against Mr Yadav, Mr Verma attacked the SP supremo again, alleging he had “connived” with the BJP in the run-up to the Babri Masjid demolition.
Speculation is, however, rife in political circles that Mr Verma is really trying to provoke the Congress leadership into expelling him from the party.
“He (Verma) is toying with the idea of joining Mayawati’s BSP as he feels only then he will be able to take on Mr Yadav freely ahead of the 2014 elections,” a source said.
“My effigies were burnt yesterday. After the statements published in newspapers today, I felt humiliated,” Mr Verma told reporters here.
He added he was not in politics “for the chair, or to become a minister”.
He said: “I believe in values... I can quit the Congress any time or it can remove me. I can tender my resignation if the Congress becomes an obstacle in my fight with Mr Yadav.”
The minister’s statement came a day after Mr Mistry reprimanded him for saying the SP chief should “first try to get the job of a sweeper at the PM’s residence if he is nursing ambitions of becoming Prime Minister”.
In an apparent attack on Mr Mistry, Mr Verma said there were “multiple centres of power” in the Congress.
Mr Verma has also sought a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the issue.