Beni Prasad Verma

Beni Prasad Verma (11 February 1941 – 27 March 2020) was an Indian politician and a member of the Samajwadi Party. Earlier he was with Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav, then he joined Indian National Congress and was elected on its ticket to Lok Sabha in 2009. In 2016 he rejoined Samajwadi Party.

Beni Prasad Verma
Member Of Parliament Rajya Sabha[1]
In office 5 July 2016 – 27 March 2020
Preceded by	Jugul Kishore
Succeeded by	Jai Prakash Nishad
Constituency	Uttar Pradesh
Minister of Steel
In office 19 January 2011 – 26 May 2014
Preceded by	Virbhadra Singh
Succeeded by	Narendra Singh Tomar
Member of Parliament Lok Sabha
In office 2009 – 2014
Preceded by	Kirti Vardhan Singh
Succeeded by	Kirti Vardhan Singh
Constituency	Gonda
Member of Parliament Lok Sabha
In office 1996 – 2009
Preceded by	Laxminarain Mani Tripathi
Succeeded by	Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh
Constituency	Kaiserganj
Personal details
Born	11 February 1941 Barabanki, United Provinces, British India
Died	27 March 2020 (aged 79) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Political party	Samajwadi Party
Spouse(s)	Malti Devi
Children	3 sons and 2 daughters
Residence	Sirauli Gauspur, Barabanki district

Personal life

Verma was born in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh[2] into a Kurmi family.[3]

Political career

Beni Prasad Verma was the steel Minister of the Indian Government. He was the Public Works Department minister for the State of Uttar Pradesh in India for several years.

He served as the Union Communications Minister in Deve Gowda's cabinet from 1996–98.

He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004 from Kaiserganj constituency seat. In 2009, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Gonda constituency in Uttar Pradesh state as an Indian National Congress candidate and on July-12-2011 was appointed the Steel Minister in Manmohan Singh Government.

In 2016, he rejoined the Samajwadi Party.

Educational institutes

Beni Prasad Verma has established educational institutions Chaudhary Charan Singh Mahavidyalaya at Bardari near Badosarai and Mohanlal Verma Educational Institute in his home district of Barabanki.[4]

Controversies

In December 2009 during a debate session in Lok Sabha, Beni Prasad had made controversial remarks for Former Prime Minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he used "man of low stands" for Mr. Vajpayee.[5] This created serious agitation among BJP leaders protested immediately by shouting, they stalled parliament and demanded an apology. Home Minister P Chidambaram apologized for the remark, but the BJP said it would boycott the Lok Sabha till Verma apologises, But Verma refused to apologise.[6]

On the next day, the then prime minister had apologised in the parliament for the controversial remark against the former prime minister. He said, "A member of our ruling coalition said something that was inappropriate; with regard to Vajpayee those words were used. I on behalf of our government apologise that those words should not have been used."[7]

In February 2012, during the Uttar Pradesh elections Verma dared EC to arrest him, saying quota for Muslims will be hiked.[8] Verma said this while addressing a rally at Kaimganj in the presence of Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh and Union law and minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid. Earlier, Khurshid created a controversy by stating that he would continue to speak on nine percent sub-quota for Muslims even if the Election Commission says it's against the guideline to promise such a thing during the elections.

On 19 August 2012 he made a remark in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh that "With the increasing price levels, the farmers are benefitting. Dal, atta, vegetables have all become expensive. I am happy with this price rise. The more the prices rise the better it is for farmers," the minister said .[9]

On 15 October 2012, he made a controversial remark that "I believe Salman Khurshid could not have embezzled Rs 71 lakh. It is a very small amount for a central minister. I would have taken it seriously if the amount was Rs 71 crore." The Times of India said his statements are grossly ill-timed and ill-phrased. [10]

On 13 December 2012, he made a remark that "Do not hang Afzal Guru but give him life imprisonment".[11]

In December 2013, when he asked about Kumar Vishwas standing against Rahul Gandhi in the election from Rahul Gandhi's home place Amethi he said, "what will he fight, how will he fight. He is nothing but a joker. There are so many jokers already, he can join them."[12]

References

1. Press Trust of India (12 June 2016). "Samajwadi Party Wins 7 Rajya Sabha Seats In UP, Kapil Sibal Emerges Victorious". NDTV. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
3. Christophe Jaffrelot
4. http://www.mlveibarabanki.org/
5. "PM apologises for remark on Vajpayee". Zee News.
6. "BJP threatens to stall Parliament over 'insult' to Vajpayee". Rediff.
7. "Prime Minister apologises for remarks against Vajpayee". NDTV.
8. "Beni Prasad Verma dares EC says quota for Muslims will be hiked (TOI)". The Times Of India.
9. "Beni Prasad Verma is 'happy' with rising prices, gets flak". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012.
10. "Beni Prasad Verma says Rs 71 lakh too little for a central minister". The Times of India.
11. http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/dont-hang-afzal-guru-beni-prasad-verma_816469.html
12. http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/beni-prasad-verma-calls-aap-s-kumar-vishwas-a-joker_896243.html

External links

• "Who is Beni Prasad Verma?". Hindustan Times. 20 March 2013. Archived from the original on 22 March 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
• Detailed profile: Beni Prasad Verma in India.gov.in website