New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) : The controversy over the purported video of Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh slapping a man during road inspection in the city, snowballed into a political showdown on Monday, with former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the concerned Minister engaging in direct verbal duel.
Both Arvind Kejriwal and Parvesh Sahib Singh, in their self-recorded video, held the other side responsible for the ugly public spat and warned against taking the public mandate for granted.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief used the slapping incident by Delhi’s PWD Minister, to take swipe at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also suggested that the GenZ connect that he was keen on, can’t be made with half-baked measures.
Kejriwal, sharing a video on his official X account, addressing the Prime Minister Modi said, “You are trying to connect with the GenZ by employing various ways and means. You make reels at midnight, you attend religious programmes but the GenZ has chosen to stay away.”
He added that all the effort to rally GenZ support will remain futile, unless the government acts in right measure and is seen working for them.
“I have come to know that there are orders from the above to safeguard the Minister (Parvesh Sahib Singh) at any cost. You will protect the corrupt, shield the slapping Minister and then expect that GenZ will connect with you. This is not going to happen,” Kejriwal said in a self-recorded video.
Further suggesting ways for ‘GenZ connect’ in a taunting manner, the AAP Chief said that if the government arrests the Minister and those contractors linked to shoddy road construction, the youth will immediately rally behind but you won’t do that.
Parvesh Sahib Singh was quick to counter Kejriwal’s claims with a counter video and said that the youth who earned his wrath was not a GenZ but a “goon” of the AAP MLA.
“The GenZ, you are referring to is not a youth. He was your goon,” he said in a direct counter.
He accused the AAP leadership of preferring drama and theatrics over Delhi’s development and dug out the “past” of youth, allegedly an AAP agent, who was slapped.
“Your goon who came yesterday, is a history-sheeter and is already booked in a case earlier. He has an FIR filed against him for breaking the neck of a MCD worker. Your legislator Jarnail Singh’s own nephew was named in the FIR and they were also briefly arrested by the police,” he said in the video.
Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh also added that he welcomes Arvind Kejriwal visiting the spot in Tilak Nagar, where the tussle erupted but to engage in rumour-mongering or resorting to pressure tactics wasn’t advisable and it won’t work also.
“If your (AAP) goons attempt to coerce MCD worker or demand commission from them, they will have to pay the price,” he said in a warning note.
In a further clarification over the slapping incident, the Delhi PWD Minister said that he was taking stock of the developmental works and also trying to address the concerns raised by the locals and AAP legislator from the area but Kejriwal and his MLAs won’t understand because their government focused only on theatrics and never on governance, during their 15-year-reign.
