Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Uttam Nagar Naresh Balyan stirred another controversy for the party on Friday after he said that “officials who delay files of public interest should be beaten up”.
“ Jo Chief Secy ke sath hua, jo inhone jhootha aarop lagaya, main to keh raha hu aise adhikariyon ko thokna chahye… Jo aam aadmi ke kaam rok ke baithe hain aise adhikariyon ke sath yahi salook hona chahiye [The false allegations of what happened with the Chief Secretary. I would say, such officials should be thrashed... Officials who stall the work of the common people deserve to be treated this way],” he said.
The statement was made at a public meeting, where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam were also present.
“These corrupt officials are no longer able to make money by sitting on each project file for months. Since Mr. Kejriwal took over office, he is not allowing these officials to sit on files, which has stopped their income. They are taking out that vengeance over the government,” Mr. Balyan said in his speech.
AAP condemns remark
Soon after, a section of the party came out and condemned Mr. Balyan’s statement. AAP spokesperson Atishi Marlena tweeted: “Strongly condemn the statement made by Naresh Balyan. All govt officers need to be treated respectfully [sic].”
Mr. Balyan, however, showed no remorse over his statement and said that he had heard no criticism from senior functionaries of the party.
“We had come to power to work for the people of this city and to change the system which had been gathering rust. We have been trying hard to get the bureaucrats to work but they are set in their ways and the public will beat them up to wake them from their slumber. They deserve it,” he said.
BJP Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari criticised the MLA for his “threat”: “The people of Delhi will answer this violent behaviour by the AAP by overthrowing this government,” he said.
