Ahmedabad, June 3: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Naroda, Balram Thawani, who was caught on camera kicking a woman, said he will apologise for his action and that he was swayed by emotions. Balram Thawani said he kicked the woman "unintentionally" and admitted that it was a mistake. Earlier, he defended his action and said that he had acted in self-defence.
"I got swayed by emotions. I accept the mistake, it was not intentional. I have been in politics for the last 22 years but such a thing has never happened before. I will say sorry to her," Thawani told reporters. A video went viral on social media in which the BJP MLA is seen kicking a woman, identified as Nitu, in Ahmedabad's Meghaninagar area.
The dispute started last week when Thawani's brother Kishor had gone to supervise the disconnection of an allegedly illegal water connection near Maya Cinema. On Sunday, Nitu, a ward-in-charge of NCP, had gone to meet Thawani and attempted to stage a protest outside his office demanding two days time for affected people before cutting their water supply. Usha Thakur, BJP MLA From Mhow, Follows Pragya Singh Thakur’s Footsteps; Calls Nathuram Godse a Patriot.
Thawani and his aides then assaulted Nitu. In the video, the BJP MLA is seen kicking her. Another person besides Thawani is seen slapping her in the video. Nitu’s husband, Rajesh Tejwani was also heckled by Thawani’s men. Earlier, Thawani said he had acted in self-defence. "One person hit me from behind following which, I came out of the office where I was pushed around. In all that, I may have accidentally hit the woman. It should not have happened," he had said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 03, 2019 12:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).