On June 27, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the Bharatiya Janata Party refused to comment about party colleague Indore MLA Akash Vijayvargiya’s assault on a municipal corporation official with a cricket bat. The official was a part of a team carrying out an anti-encroachment drive.

The previous day, Akash Vijayvargiya had thrashed the official in Indore, following which he was briefly sent to judicial custody. He was released on Sunday, but failed to express regret for his actions.

When asked for his views on the incident by television news channel Aaj Tak’s reporter Pankaj Upadhyay, Chouhan replied: “Akash has already explained his stand on the issue, I will not comment on it further,”

Further questions about what the party thinks of the incident, and whether his silence should be interpreted as a support to the act were met with answers of “thank you”.

After the incident, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Akash Vijayvargiya’s father and national secretary of the BJP, had lashed out at a journalist who asked him to comment on his son’s unruly behaviour.