In 2016 also, clashes had broken out over the auction of panchayati land reserved for Dalits in Balad Kalan village of Sangrur district. At the time 10 people were arrested, but they were released unconditionally.
His father, Prof. B.C. Verma, was a popular chemistry teacher at Mahindra College Patiala, where he later served as principal. His mother was an English teacher in a government school in Patiala and also retired as a principal.