Mulayam, Beni turn from friends to foes

Once considered to be close friends, who had worked together to get the Samajwadi Party (SP) gain a firm footing in Uttar Pradesh politics, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Beni Prasad Verma, who is now with Congress and a Union minister, are now sworn enemies.

Ever since they parted ways after three decades of friendship in 2007, Beni Verma has been spewing venom against Mulayam. But he never reacted and fielded other small timers to give the former a befitting reply.

Mulayam ran out of patience after Beni alleged that the former had links with terrorists and is now seeking his one-time friend’s scalp.

Incidently, Beni Verma had parted ways with Mulayam after he found himself cornered in the party under pressure of Amar Singh. Many of his supporters were denied nomination by the SP under Amar Singh’s pressure in the 2007 Assembly elections.

Verma then formed his own outfit and contested the polls. Though his party could not win any seat, it made inroads into the SP votes resulting in defeat many SP nominees, especially in the kurmi dominated Barabanki, Gonda, Baharaich and the adjoining districts.

In 2008 Beni merged his party with the Congress. His relations with Mulayam witnessed a new low after he emerged victorious from Gonda Lok Sabha seat in the 2009 Parliamentary elections and was promptly made a minister by the Congress.