Delhi minister Parvesh Verma in 'slap row' during road inspection as AAP demands arrest

A road inspection in west Delhi descended into a political confrontation on Sunday after a video shared by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appeared to show Delhi PWD minister Parvesh Verma slapping a man who was filming the proceedings in Tilak Nagar.

The incident took place during Verma’s inspection of an under-construction road, where AAP MLA Jarnail Singh, who represents Tilak Nagar, accompanied the minister and pulled chunks of newly laid road off by hand, questioning its quality. The video appears to show Verma pulling down the man’s mobile phone with his left hand and slapping him with his right hand, according to reports.

The man, identified as Saheb — described by NDTV as AAP MLA Jarnail Singh’s personal assistant and by other reports as his social-media handler — told news agency ANI that he was live-streaming the exchange on the MLA’s page when the minister stopped the stream, snatched the phone and slapped him. “We have lodged an FIR and will pursue further action,” he said. He also alleged that people accompanying the minister had threatened to kill him.

AAP MLA Jarnail Singh said he had called the emergency number 112, alleged that the SHO of Vikaspuri police station was present but did not apprehend the minister, and demanded Verma’s arrest and an FIR against him. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal shared the video, demanded Verma’s arrest and said he would visit the site on Monday to inspect the road.

Responding in a video message, Verma said one of Singh’s workers had abused his family, adding that he “reacted in the heat of the moment and responded in kind”. He alleged that Singh had been pressuring PWD engineers to introduce him to contractors so he could receive a commission, that a PWD engineer had filed a formal complaint to register an FIR against the MLA, and that Singh had been digging up freshly laid roadwork at night and posting videos alleging corruption. Verma said the government was open to third-party audits of its projects.

Verified against NDTV and The Economic Times (both first-hand reads, Sept 27). Disputed claims — including the FIR status, the commission allegation, and the road-quality dispute — are attributed to the named parties who made them.