IAS Association has praised officer Garima Singh for ‘standing firm’ in face of BJP MLA Udaybhan Singh’s threats.
New Delhi: The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Association has lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Udaybhan Singh after a video of him threatening a civil servant in Agra went viral Monday.
“Threatening young IAS officers working in the field is not acceptable,” the association tweeted Tuesday.
Singh, 70, is the legislator for Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh. He was caught on camera tearing into subdivisional magistrate (SDM) Garima Singh after she allegedly turned away a few beneficiaries from a camp for the distribution of compensation for weather-inflicted crop damage.
Singh was reportedly visiting the Kerawali tehsil in Agra when the incident occurred Monday.
“Aap sarkar ke virudh kaam kar rahi hain… humein dikhaana chahti hain aap SDM hain (You are working against the government. Do you want to show us that you are the SDM)?” he is heard saying.
“Aapko maloom nahi main vidhayak hun (Don’t you know I’m an MLA)? Meri taakat ka ehsaas nahi hai (You don’t realise the extent of my power),” he adds.
This is followed by sloganeering against Garima Singh, with chants of “SDM murdabad, SDM haye haye (Down with the SDM)” clearly heard on the video.
ThePrint has reached the IAS officer for comment, but is yet to get a response. MLA Singh said he will comment later in the evening. This report will be updated when they respond.
In its tweet, the IAS Association praised Garima for “standing firm”.
Threatening young IAS officers working in the field is not acceptable. IAS officers across the country work under challenging circumstances and ensure Rule of Law is upheld. Proud of Garima Singh IAS for standing firm and not giving in to intidimation. #IAS https://t.co/RiOPF292v2
— IAS Association (@IASassociation) December 18, 2018
“IAS officers across the country work under challenging circumstances and ensure Rule of Law is upheld,” the tweet added. “Proud of Garima Singh IAS for standing firm and not giving in to intidimation (sic).”
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No stranger to controversy
This episode isn’t the first time Singh and his family have made headlines for the wrong reasons.
Earlier this year, the legislator’s son, Devendra Chaudhary, was booked for allegedly assaulting an Agra Municipal Corporation engineer.
A few months later, Singh’s grandson Kunal Chaudhary was booked for allegedly sexually harassing a Greater Noida based video jockey and YouTuber in Agra.