Who is MP's controversial IAS officer Santosh Verma, the bureaucrat behind ‘Brahmin bahu' remark?

IAS officer Santosh Verma

An Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer in Madhya Pradesh, Santosh Verma, has sparked a major controversy after making an objectionable comment about Brahmin girls during a public event in Bhopal.

Verma, who was recently elected the provincial president of the Anusuchit Jati Evam Janjati Adhikari Evam Karmachari Sangh (AJAKS), made the remark while addressing the organisation’s meeting at Ambedkar Maidan on Sunday.

In a video that went viral on social media, Verma is heard saying that reservations should continue “till a Brahmin donates his daughter to my son or allows her to have a relationship with him.”

Pushpendra Mishra, state president of the All India Brahmin Samaj, demanded that a case be registered immediately. “If no FIR is filed, the Brahmin community will launch a statewide protest,” he was quoted by The New Indian Express as saying.

MP govt issues show-cause notice

The Madhya Pradesh government has issued a show-cause notice to Verma for his controversial public statements, terming them “detrimental to social harmony” and a blatant breach of civil service conduct rules.

The notice issued late Tuesday night, from the General Administration Department (GAD) directs Verma, currently posted as Deputy Secretary in the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, to submit a written explanation within seven days, warning that failure to reply will invite unilateral departmental action without further intimation.

Verma apologises after backlash

As the outrage grew, Verma expressed regret and issued an apology. “If my statement has hurt anyone, I sincerely apologise. The discussion was about reservation and social harmony. I only meant that when different communities begin to share stronger ‘roti-beti’ ties, the need to debate reservation will naturally reduce. In that context, I mentioned the idea of ‘kanyadaan’. My words were not meant to convey anything offensive. If anyone felt hurt by what I said, I express my regret,” he was quoted by AajTak as saying.

All about IAS Verma’s old cases

The controversy has also brought Verma’s past legal troubles back into public discussion. He has previously faced serious allegations, including charges related to forged documents.

In 2021, while seeking promotion from state service to the IAS, Verma allegedly submitted two fake documents in an Indore court, one showing his acquittal and another claiming a compromise between parties. The judge whose name appeared in the documents filed a police complaint, leading to Verma’s arrest. Police later filed a chargesheet, and the case is still pending in court.

Verma was also named in a complaint filed by a woman at Indore’s Lasudia police station in 2016, according to the AajTak report.

Meanwhile, the AJAKS event was meant to be a formal state-level gathering, but it turned into a political flashpoint after Verma’s statement emerged.

Brahmin groups said the remark was not just offensive but aimed at creating tension between communities. They have urged the government to take strict disciplinary action to maintain social harmony.