Eye on polls, steel minister forms all-UP committee

The Congress focus on elections in UP has prompted steel minister Beni Prasad Verma to give an all-UP colour to a panel of his ministry.

The Congress focus on elections in UP has prompted steel minister Beni Prasad Verma to give an all-UP colour to a panel of his ministry.

The newly-constituted steel consumers’ council, a body that advises and assists the ministry on matters related to supply, availability, quality and market trends of iron and steel, has all its 26 members drawn from the state.

The previous panel formed by then steel minister Virbhadra Singh has been dissolved ahead of its two-year term, which was otherwise ending on February 29, 2012.

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“Poll compulsions have forced the minister to take such a decision,” a Congress leader said. Defending the move, Verma said: “Majority of the members on such panels are taken from the state from where the minister comes… This practice has been there for many years.” Sources said many members who have been denied ticket by the party for the polls have been accommodated.