Barabanki: Union minister Beni Prasad Verma on Saturday defended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "capable leader" and termed the protest in Delhi against him as the work of people who have "lost their mental balance".
"There is no dearth of mad people in the country who stage such protests. Manmohan Singh is a capable leader and in him the Congress has given a good prime minister to the country," Verma told reporters here in his home district.
To a question whether there was a possibility of his return to Samajwadi Party following his recent statements indicating a change of heart on his part, Beni Verma asked "why would I go to the Samajwadi Party".
"Mulayam Sing is a good friend of mine and we also have old family ties. But why would I go to SP. I am not going to SP," he asserted.
According to a local media report, Verma had termed SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav as his elder brother in an interview to an electronic channel yesterday.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, September 22, 2012, 17:56