New Delhi:
The Election Commission (EC) has accepted Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma's request to hear him. The poll panel is likely to meet with Mr Verma and his counsel on Friday.
Mr Verma, who is the union minister of steel, was issued a notice by the election commission for violating the moral code of conduct during an election speech in Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh where he had made comments on the minority quota.
In his reply to the EC notice, Mr Verma had said he wanted the EC to hear him.
Last week, Mr Verma had said that his comments could have been a 'slip of the tongue' and he respected the poll panel.
The congress leader had earlier said that he wouldn't budge from his position, even if the EC took action against him. However, speaking to NDTV, Mr Verma said last week that he respects the EC and with hectic campaigning during the election season, it's hard to recollect what he said, but defends himself, saying one can raise poll issues during campaigns.
"See we respect the Election Commission and every individual should respect these institutions. We have four to five meetings while we are campaigning; we don't remember all of it, but I don't speak wrong; I always speak the right thing," he told NDTV.
Mr Verma's row with the EC comes days after law minister Salman Khurshid was plunged into a similar controversy with the EC.