New Delhi: A road inspection by Delhi PWD Minister Parvesh Verma in Tilak Nagar took an ugly turn after a video appeared to show him slapping a young man who was recording the visit on his mobile phone.
The footage shows Verma pulling down the man’s phone before appearing to slap him, after which a security guard steps between the two. The incident has led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders to demand an FIR against the minister. Several people can be seen gathered around the two.
Earlier reporting noted: ‘Oye maar kisse raha hai’: Delhi minister Parvesh Verma slaps man during road inspection; AAP shares video Captured on video during a road inspection in Tilak Nagar, Delhi, PWD Minister Parvesh Verma’s unexpected slap to a young man Earlier reporting noted: NEW DELHI: Delhi PWD Minister Parvesh Verma was seen slapping a young man during a road inspection in Tilak Nagar, in a video shared by the Aam Aadmi Party . Earlier reporting noted: The young man then appears to confront the minister before a security guard steps between them.
Another person says, ” Arre, thappad maar diya bhai. The legislator has said that he will file an FIR over the incident. During a midnight inspection of road resurfacing work on Africa Avenue earlier this month, he said that the government had promised pothole-free roads and that third-party agencies had been deployed to check construction quality and road thickness.
The video captures a heated exchange around the minister. At one point, a voice can be heard saying, “ Oye, maar kaise raha hai (Hey, how can you hit him)? Bhai, thappad maar diya ji. Yeh lo ji, video banate huye thappad maar diya (Oh, you slapped him, brother. Brother, he slapped him. Look, he slapped him while he was making a video). Another person in the crowd can be heard saying, “ Aam aadmi ko koi thappad nahin maar sakta (No ordinary person can be slapped like this). The person seen recording the minister has been identified by the AAP as Sahib Singh, who works as the personal assistant of Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh. The allegations in the video have not been independently established beyond the footage itself. MLA Singh shared the video on X and accused Verma of misbehaving with his associate. The incident took place against the backdrop of an intensified road inspection programme by the Delhi government. Verma has been visiting road construction and resurfacing sites, including inspections at night, as the government works on its plan to improve road quality.
The incident at around 1.30 pm on Sunday (September 27). People there told me that the road had not been built for 15 years and was now being constructed after 15 years,” he said. Verma claimed that he called Singh three times and waited for about 45 minutes. “I waited for him for 45 minutes.
He had come to inspect the road but lost his temper after seeing one scam after another being exposed and behaved like a thug with my colleague who was recording the video,” the MLA wrote.
The AAP has said it will approach the police to seek registration of an FIR against Verma. “When someone abuses your family, any person would react the way I did,” he said. An engineer had approached the police after refusing to comply, according to the minister. Recalling the road inspection, he said he had asked the engineers to show him the work when he passed through the area. I did the same,” he said.
Viral on social media, the purported video shows the minister approaching a young man who appears to be recording him on his mobile phone. Verma is seen pulling the phone down with his left hand before appearing to slap the man across the face with his right hand. The footage then shows the young man confronting the him before a security guard steps between the two. A crowd can be seen gathering around them and seen chanting slogans against Verma and his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The incident took place when the minister was inspecting a road in Tilak Nagar. The inspection was part of his visits to check work quality of road constructions in the national capital. Verma had also conducted inspections at other locations in the city in recent days as the Delhi government steps up road checks. “He is the PWD minister in the BJP government of Delhi, the capital of India. The party has also used the video to attack the BJP-led Delhi government over the conduct of its minister. Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal shared the video and called for Verma’s arrest. Former AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj also posted the footage and described the incident as shameful and cowardly. He alleged that the young man was recording the minister to show the condition of Delhi’s roads. He also accused Verma of taking cover behind his security personnel before leaving the spot in his car. Verma later posted a nearly three-minute video on X in which he gave his side of the story. He alleged that a worker of AAP MLA Jarnail Singh had started abusing his family. He also alleged that Singh had been putting pressure on PWD engineers to introduce him to contractors and arrange commissions. He further alleged that roads were being laid at night and damaged the following morning after the alleged commission demands were not met. “When I stopped there and saw the work, it was going very well. I did not call our workers who were there. When Jarnail Singh arrived, he had informed his workers and came there. As soon as he arrived, they started misbehaving. When one of his workers started abusing my family, any person would react in anger. He also hit back at the AAP over the road work, saying, “I want to tell the Aam Aadmi Party that the work you could not do is now being done by our government, and that is why you are upset. He added that the government would not tolerate anyone obstructing official work, damaging government property or demanding commissions from its officials.
