Santosh Bangar joined the Sena's Eknath Shinde camp during the rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray
Shiv Sena MLA Santosh Bangar, who made headlines after a video of him slapping a catering manager went viral, has defended his action and said it is the "Sena's job to fight against injustice".
The video, which has now gone viral, shows Mr Bangar abusing and assaulting the manager of a midday meal programme for labourers in Maharashtra's Hingoli district.
Mr Bangar, who joined the Sena's Eknath Shinde camp during the rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray's leadership, said he had received a complaint over the poor food quality.
"For the poor who work day and night, Maharashtra government has made arrangements to provide good food. But some contractors are not giving proper food and indulging in corruption. There is neither cucumber, nor carrot in that food, only spoiled pulses and rice. If you saw that food, you would have done the same," he told NDTV.
To a question on why he did not escalate the matter instead of resorting to violence, he replied that he would meet Chief Minister Shinde today and flag the issue. "I will demand action against the officer concerned and the contractor."
"I had been telling the contractor and the officer for 15 days, but nothing happened. The Maharashtra I live in the state of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Balasaheb Thackeray. Fighting against injustice is the job of Shiv Sena," he said.
Asked about his corruption charge during the previous Uddhav Thackeray regime, Mr Bangar replied, "These Congress and NCP people were with us, where do they allow us to raise our voice? They used to suppress our voice. Today, Eknath Shinde is the Chief Minister. The voice has now started and will stop everything."
"I am a Shiv Sainik of Balasaheb Thackeray. If someone does injustice, I will raise my voice against him," he reiterated.