New Delhi: A road inspection at Tilak Nagar in Delhi by Parvesh Verma has sparked a political scandal on Sunday when a video emerged in which the Minister for Delhi PWD could be seen slapping a person filming him, following an argument between him and AAP MLA Jarnail Singh regarding the newly built road.
Parvesh Verma Road Inspection: What Happened?
In the video, Verma can be seen taking the mobile of the man down before slapping him. Security guards intervene between both of them after that.
Sahib Singh is the name of the man identified in media reports as an aide working for the social media functions of Jarnail Singh. He has clarified that he was taping the incident and got slapped when he continued doing so. A police FIR complaint was registered in the case.
The argument started about Delhi road construction, with Jarnail Singh raising objections to the quality of the road that has just been constructed. In a video clip, he has been seen lifting pieces of the road by hand.
Parvesh Verma Slapping Video: What Does the Minister Say?
The minister has come up with a different explanation. According to him, there was some person who accompanied the AAP MLA and he allegedly abused his family and the incident took place in a fit of rage. In addition, he accused the MLA of seeking some kind of commission from the PWD officials but this fact cannot be corroborated from the reports reviewed. Verma, in his response to the issue, says that “what happened should not have happened.”
This is an issue not only related to the viral video but also to the basic question of accountability: when citizens, local representatives or residents question the quality of a road being built with public money, how should a public official respond?
In such a case, a minister must respond to the questions on the works of his department and not deal with the accusations through a fight.
The situation becomes more sensitive considering the fact that Verma had announced plans for the upgrading of 600 kilometers of Delhi roads by November 30 with third party testing and five year maintenance accountability of the contractors.
DemocraX will continue to track the road quality dispute as well as subsequent police and administrative actions. Our readers may also check DemocraX India Coverage and DemocraX Latest News.
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