Screengrab of a video where MLA Ketki Singh is seen scolding an official in UP's Ballia for bulldozing the home of a poor family
Highlights
- MLA scolds official in UP's Ballia
- The act was captured on camera and is now viral on social media
- People on the internet slammed the MLA for her comments
MLA Ketki Singh's outburst: A woman MLA of the BJP’s ally Nishad Party has allegedly threatened an official for demolishing a newly built part of the house of a man on government land in a village, ignoring her ‘recommendation’ not to do so. Ketki Singh, the Nishad Party’s MLA from Bansdih seat in Ballia district, is heard in a video purportedly threatening the tehsildar (revenue official) for bulldozing a “new structure” of the man’s house built on government land at Udha village in the Sahatwar area of the district.
In the video, which went viral on social media, Singh is heard talking to the tehsildar, lamenting that her “small sifarish” was not "honoured" and telling him that her men will "return honour" in the same coin. "I made a small 'sifarish'(recommendation), which was not honoured. Is this the honour of my recommendation that tehsildar reached there (the house) with bulldozer?” Singh is heard asking. "Now my men will return the honour in the same language," the MLA was heard saying in the video.
As the officials sought to reason with her that only the new structure was demolished and not the whole house, the MLA angrily said, "Had the house been razed, I would have set afire the entire tehsil (office)." Singh’s supporters too got enraged during the conversation and are heard saying that it is a matter of the MLA’s honour and not of "razing a house". The tehsil office should implement whatever the MLA says otherwise it would be set on fire, an MLA supporter was seen issuing the threat in the video.
Clarifying the situation, Bansdih’s Sub Divisional Magistrate Deep Shikha Singh said the matter has come to the fore through social media. "A new construction was being raised for the past two to three days in a house built by a man on government land. Despite being asked repeatedly by the Tehsil administration, the construction continued,” the SDM said in a statement. As the man ignored the official warning, a team led by Tehsildar Praveen Singh got the new construction removed on April 27, she added. Asked about the issue, MLA Singh said the officials reached the village with a bulldozer without any warning and demolished some portion of the house. "It is a clear order of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath not to bulldoze houses of the poor," she asserted.
