Parvesh Verma, the Delhi Public Works Department minister, slapped a young man who was filming him during a road inspection in Tilak Nagar on Sunday. The clip, which has already gathered millions of views on social media, prompted the Delhi Police to receive two separate complaints—one from the victim and one from the minister’s camp. Police officials say they are verifying the facts and circumstances.
Verma, who has served in the cabinet since 2020, said he was provoked when a worker of AAP MLA Jarnail Singh started abusing his family members. He added that the man was a ‘cameraman’ and that he reacted in a fit of anger, as anyone would react in such a situation. Verma released a video statement on X, where he accused the AAP MLA of corruption and claimed the incident was staged.
Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP national convenor and former Delhi chief minister, called for Verma’s arrest on X, pledging to visit Tilak Nagar the next day to inspect the road. AAP chief Saurabh Bhardwaj described the act as ‘disgraceful and cowardly’ and slammed the minister for exposing ‘vulgarity’ in public. The party also alleges that the video was promoted by AAP to tarnish Verma’s image.
Delhi Police have opened an inquiry and said they would register a First Information Report if the evidence supports it. Meanwhile, Kejriwal’s team plans to hold a press conference on Monday to demand the minister’s removal from the cabinet. The dispute has already sparked calls for stricter accountability of public officials during site inspections.