| NEW DELHI: Congress was engaged in furious fire-fighting on Monday to mollify Samajwadi Party which insisted on the resignation of Union minister Beni Prasad Verma for accusing Mulayam Singh Yadav of supporting terrorists. After SP disrupted Lok Sabha, Congress mediators reached out to Mulayam and by Monday evening were optimistic that the Yadav chieftain will not hold up the House on Tuesday. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath met Yadav to persuade him to allow business in the four days remaining before the two Houses take a break. SP threatened withdrawal of support if Verma was not sacked, sending Congress managers on an overdrive to win back the ally whose 22 MPs are crucial to UPA's survival and passage of bills in Parliament. With trouble on the DMK front mounting, the ruling camp was worried about the spiraling tensions. Sources said that late in the evening SP relented to say it would not drag the matter further. However, a formal decision will only come on Tuesday. Significantly, Verma was absent from a Cabinet meeting late on Monday. Congress is not expecting the head strong leader to apologise, but hopes a fulsome tribute to Mulayam will do the trick. The rel ief only underlined how Verma has again left the Congress red-faced, his bizarre remark on Sunday that Mulayam has links with terrorists leading to angry protests and blockade of Parliament by Samajwadis. The full-throated protests from Samajwadi MPs were led by the Yadav chieftain himself who warned, "I have been called a terrorist. Unless the minister is dismissed we can not have peace... If it is proved that I am a terrorist, I may be sent to jail or he should be dismissed." He said Verma had linked terrorism to Muslims since his comment came after he addressed a convention in Lucknow. "How can he (Verma) say Muslims are terrorists? He should apologize," the SP surpemo said. Congress was constrained to find another sullen ally amid DMK's threat of walkout and was compelled to buy peace. Nath expressed regret in Lok Sbaha and called Yadav "not an ordinary member" but "leader of his party". At an official briefing, Congress spokesman Rashid Alvi said , "It is unfortunate. We do not approve of the statement. It was a non-serious remark." However, Verma remained untouched by the sentiment around, choosing to provoke the SP further in Lok Sabha. "For me, terrorism has no religion, no colour. The demolition of Babri Masjid and the post-Godhra riots are also terrorist incidents... he (Mulayam) joined hands with those who demolished Babri Masjid, like Kalyan Singh. His party also helped BJP win in Gujarat," he said. Congress ranks were exasperated but fatalistic about the outcome, aware how the Samajwadi renegade has managed to position himself as an OBC satrap after becoming the party mascot in 2012 assembly campaign led by Rahul Gandhi. The motormouth leader landed PM Manmohan Singh in a spot when he dared the Election Commission on the poll trail to arrest him for violating the ban on speaking on "Muslim quota" -- UPA would not only give quota to Muslims but also hike it later. Verma found a queer way to rebuff allegations of embezzlement against foreign minister Salman Khurshid last year. "I believe Khurshid could not have embezzled Rs 71 lakh. It is a very small amount for a central minister. I would have taken it seriously if the amount was Rs 71 crore," he said. The remark triggered outrage and forced Congress to distance itself from the voluble leader. Last August, his statement on untamed inflation forced Congress on the defensive. He told a gathering, "With increasing price levels, farmers are benefitting. Dal, atta, ve getables have all become expensive. I am happy with this price rise. The more the prices rise the better it is for farmers." The senior leader last stirred the political waters when, on the eve of anniversary of Parliament attack, he said Afzal Guru should not be hanged but given "life sentence". Rival BJP used the statement to buttress their allegations that Congress was soft-pedalling on terror for political reasons. Guru was later hanged. How to download and use alive App Step 1: Get the Alive app: Give a missed call to 18001023324 or go to aliveapp.in Step 2: Open Alive app on your phone and scan this picture by focussing your phone's camera on it. Hold your phone about 6 inches over the photo and watch it come alive . Android and iOS phones scan the picture automatically, while Nokia and BlackBerry users need to click options and then, capture. 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