New Delhi, Sep 27 Expressing regret over the Vikaspuri incident in which PWD Minister Parvesh Verma slapped a man during a road inspection, the Delhi BJP on Sunday claimed that the man is a habitual offender and was previously arrested for assaulting an MCD employee.
In a statement, BJP media head Praveen Shankar Kapoor also claimed that AAP MLA Jarnail Singh provoked Verma by bringing 50 AAP workers during the inspection and started behaving in an “indecent and uncivilised manner”.
Earlier, Verma claimed that the man, identified as Saheb Singh, an aide of Jarnail Singh, had abused his family while he was inspecting the road work on the Vikaspuri Ring Road.
The BJP alleged that Saheb Singh is a “habitual offender”, and a case of assaulting an MCD employee was registered against him, and he was subsequently arrested.
“What happened in Vikaspuri was wrong, and the PWD minister has also admitted it. We all regret it. But MLA Jarnail Singh should explain why, despite being informed in advance by the minister, he arrived 45 minutes late and why he came with a crowd?” Kapoor asked.
He alleged that the way Jarnail Singh “deliberately provoked” Verma reminded him how AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, through a similar “conspiracy”, had got the Delhi chief secretary and even his own party’s MP assaulted.
Kapoor claimed that the AAP MLA had been complaining against the contractor responsible for the road work in Vikaspuri area since last week, and that he had been pressuring officials to arrange a meeting with Verma.
“When the contractor did not meet the MLA, he started putting pressure through videos on social media. This came to the notice of the PWD Minister, following which he decided to conduct an administrative inspection of the site,” he said.
“While proceeding towards Vikaspuri, the PWD minister, as a matter of propriety, called AAP MLA Jarnail Singh and requested him to meet at the site. The MLA arrived with around 50 AAP workers and started behaving in an indecent and uncivilised manner,” Kapoor claimed.
He said that Verma “chose the democratic approach” by meeting the MLA and finding a solution to the issue.
“Instead, MLA Jarnail Singh, displaying an uncivilised form of political conduct, inappropriately spoke to the PWD Minister and also got his accompanying workers to behave similarly, Kapoor alleged.
Later, Verma reacted to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had slammed the Delhi minister for slapping Saheb Singh.
“A BJP minister from the Delhi government is seen slapping a young man in a video. His crime? He was making a video. A road was being dug up right in front of the minister, and he had a camera in his hand. This is the face of a power that no longer fears the voters,” the Lok Sabha leader of the opposition said on X.
Reacting to his post, Verma said, “Rahul ji, aap rehne do bhai, aapko kuch nhi pata (Rahul ji, you just stay out of it, bro, you don’t know a thing).
(PTI News)
