Rs 71 lakh too small for a scam by Khurshid: Beni Prasad

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Beni Prasad Verma on Monday backed Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid over the controversy surrounding his trust saying he would not do any scam for an amount as small as Rs 71 lakh. Defending the Law Minister over the issue, the Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh said, "Rs 71 lakh is a small amount for a Central Minister. A person like Salman Khurshid will not do any scam for Rs 71 lakh... had it been Rs 71 crore, I would take it seriously."

The comment caused huge embarrassment for the Congress and amidst much flak, the minister later on retracted his statement, saying that even one rupee constituted corruption.

Earlier in the day, Beni also hit out at anti-corruption crusader-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal over his attack on Khurshid saying "he should not bark day and night". This came hours after Kejriwal intensified his attack on Khurshid producing more evidence against the Law Minister. Kejriwal claimed that the photographs shown by the Law Minister and his wife Louise Khurshid on Sunday were of an event held later.

Meanwhile, the Congress has asserted that Khurshid will not resign over the controversy. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said Khurshid had a reputation to be proud of and the government could not respond to each and every allegation made by Kejriwal.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh also attacked Kejriwal, saying he was "trying to occupy a political space" by making allegations against Salman Khurshid. He said, "Kejriwal is trying to occupy a political space by making these allegations by going to a limit which no political person goes to."

Dismissing any possibility of the Union Minister resigning over the issue, Digvijaya questioned, "Why should Salman Khurshid resign…just because of media trial or because Kejriwal is sitting with 150 people at Parliament Street?"