BJP to send notice to Vijayvargiya’s son in assault case

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to issue a show cause notice to MLA Akash Vijayvargiya, son of party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, and ask him why he beat a civic officer with a cricket bat in Indore, a leader familiar with the matter said.

“Akash will be served a show cause notice within a couple of days,” the leader said, requesting anonymity. The BJP’s Madhya Pradesh unit will issue the notice since he is the Indore-3 MLA.

In a video that went viral on June 26, Akash was seen hitting an Indore Municipal Corporation official leading a team to demolish the house of a BJP worker. The police in Congress-ruled MP arrested him the same day but he walked out on bail on June 30 to a huge welcome, at which one man was seen firing in the air.

Without naming Akash, Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue at a meeting of BJP MPs on Tuesday. The PM said he disapproved of such conduct by party leaders, no matter whose son he is. “I don’t even mind losing one MLA… I am giving sweat and blood to the party,” an MP who attended the meet quoted him as saying. The PM said such leaders and those who felicitated them should be shown the door.

According to the MP, PM Modi asked: “What valour did the person in the video [Akash Vijayvargia] show to deserve such a great welcome from party workers?”

The MP, however, said the party would have to wait to hear Akash’s explanation before rushing to take disciplinary action against him.