Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Monday defended his son, who was arrested and then released on bail for attacking a municipal corporation official in Indore with a cricket bat, ANI reported. Kailash Vijayvargiya said his son, Akash Vijayvargiya, was a “kaccha khiladi”, or a novice, and that his actions were not of major concern.

“I think there was mishandling from both the sides,” the BJP general secretary told ANI. “Both Akash ji and the municipal corporation commissioner are novice players. It was not a big issue, but it was made huge.”

Instead, Kailash Vijayvargiya suggested that the municipal corporation officials should have listened to his son as he is an elected representative of the people. “I think officers should not be arrogant,” he said. “They should talk to people’s representatives.”

He alleged that the civic body had mishandled the situation. “If a building is being demolished, then arrangements are made for the residents to live in a dharamshala,” Kailash Vijayvargiya said. “There was mishandling from the municipal corporation. Women staff and women police should have been there. This should not happen again.”

Akash Vijayvargiya was on Sunday released on bail from a jail in Indore. A special court in Bhopal had granted Akash Vijayvargiya bail on Saturday. On Sunday, supporters garlanded him after he came out of jail and fired in the air.

The MLA expressed no regret for his actions. “Whatever happened, I do not regret it,” he told reporters. “A woman was being dragged by her feet in the presence of the police. A poor family’s house was going to be demolished with machines. I did what I thought was right at the time.”