Rahul Gandhi broadened the attack beyond the Tilak Nagar incident, arguing that the episode reflected a larger political culture in which questions from citizens are met with force rather than answers.
BY PC Bureau
New Delhi, September 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked the BJP-led Delhi government after a video showed PWD Minister Parvesh Verma pulling down a young man’s phone and appearing to slap him during a road inspection in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar.
Gandhi said the young man’s only “crime” was recording a video of a road being dug up in front of him. In a post in Hindi, he linked the incident to what he described as a wider pattern in which questions on the street are met with slaps, questions over paper leaks with lathi charges and questions in Parliament with switched-off microphones.
“These people do this because they no longer fear that elections can remove them,” Gandhi wrote, adding: “Vote theft buys this — not just the result, but the arrogance that follows.”
The remarks came after a video of Sunday’s confrontation during a road inspection went viral, triggering a political row between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party. AAP has demanded Verma’s arrest, while the minister has rejected the opposition’s account and said the incident followed alleged abuse of his family by an AAP worker.
In the video circulated by AAP leaders, Verma is seen reaching for the phone of the young man, identified as Saheb Singh, with his left hand and then appearing to slap him with his right. Singh moves towards the minister before a security guard intervenes. A voice can be heard saying, “Oye, maar kaise raha hai?” (“How are you hitting?”).
The incident occurred while Verma was inspecting road work in the Tilak Nagar-Vikaspuri area. AAP MLA Jarnail Singh was present at the site. Singh said he handles the MLA’s social-media activities and had been recording the inspection.
Singh said he had gone to the spot after the PWD informed them about the inspection and that he showed Verma portions of the road surface that, he alleged, were already crumbling.
दिल्ली की BJP सरकार के एक मंत्री वीडियो में एक नौजवान को थप्पड़ मारते दिख रहे हैं।
उसका गुनाह? वो वीडियो बना रहा था।
मंत्री के सामने सड़क खोदकर दिखाई जा रही थी, और उसके हाथ में कैमरा था।ये उस सत्ता का चेहरा है जिसे अब वोटर से डर लगना बंद हो गया है।
सड़क पर सवाल पूछो – थप्पड़।…
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 27, 2026
“I showed the minister how the road surface was crumbling. The minister couldn’t tolerate it, and he hit me,” Singh said.
He also alleged that his phone was being stopped from recording or live-streaming the proceedings and that people accompanying the minister threatened him. Singh said a complaint had been lodged with the police. Delhi Police was reported to be verifying the allegations after receiving the complaint.
Jarnail Singh accused Verma of assaulting the person who was recording the inspection instead of addressing questions over the quality of the road. He said the minister had witnessed the alleged irregularities and then assaulted the person filming the exchange.
AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal demanded Verma’s arrest and said he would visit the road on Monday. AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj also attacked the minister and described the confrontation as “BJP vs Gen Z.”
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Verma, however, gave a sharply different account. He said the circulated video did not show the full context of the confrontation and alleged that road work on the Vikaspuri Ring Road had been under way for several days.
The minister alleged that Jarnail Singh had sought to establish contact with the contractor and demanded a commission. He further alleged that an AAP worker abused his family.
“When one of his workers started abusing my family, I reacted in anger the way anyone naturally would,” Verma said.
BJP leaders backed Verma’s version, arguing that the minister was inspecting development work in an opposition-held constituency and that he faced a hostile crowd at the site. The allegations about a commission, abuse and obstruction have not been independently established.
The two sides have thus offered sharply conflicting accounts of the confrontation. AAP has presented the video as evidence of an assault following questions over road quality, while Verma and BJP leaders say it followed provocation and alleged obstruction of government work.
