Video of Punjab minister Dharamsot ''threatening'' Nabha principal goes viral

Gagan K. Teja

Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 14

A video of Congress minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot "threatening" a school principal in Nabha for putting his name at number three on the inauguration stone has gone viral.

The incident occurred on Friday morning at an event held to inaugurate Nabha Government Senior Secondary Girls School’s new academic block, where he was a special guest.

Dharamost spotted his name listed third on the inauguration stone, below two other names — both early donors of the block that they had dedicated to their mother’s memory — and is heard claiming he was the chief guest at the event and threatening the principal with suspension. He is also heard using foul language.

Construction for the new block that contains 14 rooms began 2012 when the two women — sisters and alumnae of the school — raised Rs 50 lakh for it, but the project was delayed.

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A schoolteacher who refused to be named insisted that the two women were chief guests at the event while Dharamsot was only a special guest, a fact the person said was mentioned in invitation cards sent out for the event.

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School principal Nishi Jalota said the minister’s reaction surprised her.

"The family was supposed to be the chief guests but someone told us that we should invite the local minister too and therefore we called him as a special guest. Some persons who accompanied him kept instigating him saying his name was listed below (two others) and he got agitated," she added.

Dhamsot however claimed his words were misconstrued.

"Forget about what has been recorded. My version is that I had no issues with my name used on the third place,” he said, claiming that he believed that the building had fewer rooms given the money spent and there were irregularities in the project.