AAP MLA released a video of the assault. (Video grab)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday accused BJP MLA Abhay Verma of slapping a sanitation worker in Delhi, while the MLA distanced himself from the assault and said he only asked him why he had kept a public toilet locked.
The row began as AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar released a video — which NDTV has not independently verified — alleging that the MLA abused and slapped the worker. The video shows the worker being shoved around and being slapped by some people.
He said this was the BJP venting its frustration at being defeated in the recent civic body elections fought on the issue of sanitation.
Senior AAP leader Rakhi Birla said they will write to the Delhi police commissioner demanding "safety" of the workers and also seek a case to be filed against the BJP MLA for assaulting the Dalit man.
"BJP's actions reflect its mindset. It has always been anti-Dalit and only views them as a 'vote bank'," Ms Birla said to news agency PTI.
But the BJP MLA, Abhay Verma, responded with counter allegations, and said, "The fight did not happen in my presence."
He said, "When I was visiting the area, I got a complaint that the toilet, meant for slum residents, is kept locked. When I asked the worker, he used abusive language."
The worker has not responded to the allegations.
The MLA further said, "At first he said he did not have the key. But when locals and I pressured him, he brought the key and opened the toilet."
He also said that local people had told him that "liquor is also stored here". "As a public representative, it is my right to ask why such a public facility was kept closed. If the toilet is locked in the future, too, I will definitely go there again," he said.