New Delhi: Outrage and concerns of overreach notwithstanding, no FIRs have been filed a day after a video, purportedly showing Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Parvesh Verma slapping an aide of Tilak Nagar MLA and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Jarnail Singh, went viral on social media on Sunday (September 27). The incident took place during a road inspection in West Delhi.Singh, while defending his aide who has been identified as Saheb Singh, alleged that Verma got angry after he pulled out a portion of a newly laid road by hand to demonstrate its poor construction. He also rejected allegations that the 22-year-old had abused the minister or his family, prompting the violent outburst.“He is my team member and neither he nor I abused any member of Parvesh’s family. How can the minister slap someone without provocation? The entire incident has been recorded on camera. If it can be heard anywhere that I was abusing anyone, I am ready to face the law,” Singh told the Indian Express.Verma and Singh present opposing narrativesSaheb Singh, who reportedly handled the MLA’s social media accounts, was recording the road inspection event when Verma allegedly slapped him. A video of the altercation has been widely circulating across social media platforms since Sunday (September 27), with AAP leaders demanding accountability and action against Verma.Two complaints have been filed against Jarnail Singh, while Sahib Singh has filed a complaint against Verma, per the Indian Express.While speaking to the Indian Express, Singh said he received a call from Verma at 1.15 pm informing him that the minister was planning to visit a road that the MLA had been questioning.“He [Verma] came without any prior intimation, but his team members were all prepared. They wanted to put on some sort of show off and planned to leave immediately, as I had been challenging the government for the past few days to come and inspect the poor-quality road. But when I removed a portion of the road with my hands, he got agitated and slapped the man who was recording the video,” said Singh.Verma said he had been passing through the area when he decided to stop and inspect the ongoing construction work, which he found “satisfactory.” He alleged that Singh arrived with party workers to the site, 45 minutes after the call, and started making disrespectful remarks.“I had not called BJP workers, but when Jarnail Singh reached there, he came with his party workers. He started saying disrespectful things the moment he came. His party workers started abusing my family. I did what any person would do in that moment of anger,” Verma told the Indian Express.Political backlashAAP national convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on X that he would visit Tilak Nagar to inspect the road where the incident took place. He alleged that “a young man had been publicly slapped for exposing corruption in road construction.”सड़क निर्माण में भ्रष्टाचार दिखाने पर मोदी जी के मंत्री ने एक युवक को सरे आम थप्पड़ मारा।मैं कल तिलक नगर जाकर इस सड़क का मुआयना करूंगा। pic.twitter.com/MnKbQ5L0CP— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) September 27, 2026Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has also issued a statement on the incident. “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,” he wrote on X.“Ask a question on the street – a slap. Ask a question on paper leaks – a lathi charge. Ask a question in Parliament – the mic is switched off. These people do this because they no longer fear that elections can remove them. Vote theft buys this – not just the result, but the arrogance that follows. A government that takes victory for granted doesn’t need your consent – it demands your silence and blind devotion,” said Gandhi.AAP leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj and Kuldeep Kumar, along with Singh, led a protest in West Delhi to seek registration of an FIR against the minister. They were later detained in Jafar Pur Kalan police station, said Bharadwaj in a post on X. In a later post, Bharadwaj shared a video of the incident captioned, “First, Pravesh Verma called Jarnail Singh and said, ‘Show me where the road is being dug up.’ When Jarnail Singh dug up the road to show him, the minister got angry and slapped a Gen Z who was making a video. Immediately after that, they ran away from there, hiding behind the police.”कल की पूरी घटना का सच यह है:-पहले प्रवेश वर्मा ने जरनैल सिंह को बुलाया और कहा कि ‘जहाँ सड़क उखड़ रही है, मुझे दिखाइए।’जब जरनैल सिंह ने सड़क को उखाड़कर दिखा दिया, तो मंत्री जी को गुस्सा आ गया और उन्होंने वीडियो बना रहे एक Gen Z को थप्पड़ मार दिया।इसके तुरंत बाद वे पुलिस के… pic.twitter.com/nLaJ2PHQyi— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) September 28, 2026Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge expressed his disapproval over the incident. “Delhi’s ministers are slapping youth. Under Amit Shah’s watch, youth were baton-charged at Jantar Mantar. Before that, a minister’s son ran over farmers with his car. A central minister said, ‘goli maro’,” he wrote on X.Meanwhile, PWD officials have alleged that Singh had been harassing them over the development work and had been asking for a commission, reported Indian Express. Singh has denied any such allegations, describing the complaints against him as fabricated.