Don't know why Beni Prasad Verma spoke of conspiracy: Prithviraj Chavan

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today expressed surprise at Congress leader Beni Prasad Verma's accusation that he was 'conspiring' against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

"I don't know why he said this. I have already explained to the Congress president that I had aired my view that Rahul Gandhi should have been a minister in the UPA government even before the elections," Chavan told PTI here today.

Verma had said earlier that Chavan's statement that Rahul should have become a minister, and Digvijaya Singh's observation that Rahul should have been more visible and vocal, were indications of a conspiracy.

Meanwhile, four independent MLAs, namely, Jaykumar Gore, Vasant Chavan, Shirish Chaudhary and Suresh Jethlia, who had defeated NCP candidates in 2009, joined the Congress in the presence of state unit chief Manikrao Thakre and Chavan today.

Chavan and Thakre said that they will be fielded from the same constituencies in the coming elections.

To the question whether Congress would get these seats which are in the ally NCP's quota, Thakre said it would not be a problem.