New Delhi:
Senior Cabinet minister from Uttar Pradesh Beni Prasad Verma believes that Rs 71 lakh is too small an amount for any Central minister to embezzle.
Mr Verma offered this opinion today as he defended Law Minister Salman Khurshid whose NGO in Uttar Pradesh has been accused of siphoning Rs 71 lakh meant to help differently-abled people in the state. "I believe Salman Khurshid could not have embezzled Rs 71 lakh," he said, "Rs 71 lakh is a very small amount for a Central minister. I would have taken it seriously if the amount was Rs 71 crore."
The allegations were made first by a Hindi news channel last week, then repeated by activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal, who got some unsolicited advice today from Mr Verma, who is the Steel Minister. "I wish him good luck," said Mr Verma of Mr Kejriwal's new and as yet unchristened political party. "My advice to him is don't bark day and night... roar once in a while. Those who roar once in a while are looked upon as tigers."
But hours later, speaking to NDTV Mr Verma said he had been misquoted. "Corruption is corruption, even if it is for one rupee," he said. But defending Mr Khurshid he maintained, "It is my duty to defend him. He is a clean man. I can't believe he will cheat handicapped people. No guilty man will ask for an inquiry. Salman Khurshid is a big personality... he won't do this for 71 lakhs."
Mr Kejriwal has been demanding the Law Minister's resignation, who has denounced the charges against him and has sued the Hindi channel that first made the allegations for Rs 200 crore in the Bombay High Court, along with other defamation suits in Delhi and London.
The Uttar Pradesh government has commissioned an inquiry against Mr Khurshid's NGO.