Beni Prasad Verma, Former Union Minister And Samajwadi Party Leader, Dies At 79

Beni Prasad Verma, former Union Minister and veteran leader of the Samajwadi Party, died on Friday evening at the Medanta Hospital in Lucknow. He was 79. The Rajya Sabha MP had been suffering from age-related illnesses for a while.

Beni Prasad Verma served as Union minister under two prime ministers - HD Deve Gowda and Manmohan Singh. Verma served as Communications Minister in Gowda's cabinet from 1996-98 while he was appointed the Steel Minister in Manmohan Singh Government in 2011.

Verma was a founding member of the Samajwadi Party and a close associate of Mulayam Singh Yadav. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in multiple times from Kaiserganj seat. He joined Congress later and was elected on its ticket to the Lok Sabha in 2009, before returning to the SP in 2016.