Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Tuesday came under attack from SP and BJP for making Congress activists and journalists members of Steel Consumers' Council, and distributing cash and gifts to them at its meeting.
More than 1,000 members were given cash, mobile and a trolley bag each at the 24th meeting of the Council held in Lucknow on Monday, and over Rs 1 crore were spent on it, sources said.
The beneficiaries included Congress workers from Verma's home district Barabanki, his constituency Gonda and local journalists who have been made members of the Council with the tenure till March 31, 2014, the sources said.
Condemning the act, BJP chief spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak demanded a high-level probe into the entire matter. "We demand a high-level probe into the matter. The expense on the entire programme, beneficiaries of the cash and other gifts including mobile should be made public," Pathak said.
"Why this gift was distribute should also be cleared by the minister," he said. Samajwadi Party leader Om Prakash Singh said that it was unfortunate that a central minister was involved in such an act. "If he (Beni) thinks he could win hearts of people by distributing money and gifts, he is wrong," Singh said.
Another SP leader, Ram Ashrey Vishwakarma, claimed that the act "amounts to corruption" and the Election Commission or higher authorities should probe the misuse. Chairman of Congress's communication cell Satyadev Tripathi, however, said whatever gifts or TA/DA was given were as per the rules.
"SP and BJP men did not know about this and are making mountain out of a molehill... The Navratna companies give TA/DA and gifts in their meetings to delegates and this is routine. Monday was the AGM of Steel Consumers' Council and whatever was given must be as per rules," Tripathi added.
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