Shiv Sena fights MNS charge with new video

The MNS has alleged that Shiv Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar assaulted a woman at Prabhadevi. MNS members also held a press conference on Thursday in BMC and claimed that Sarvankar was against the locals. However, on Friday, a video from a Shiv Sena source showed that Sarvankar didn't assault a woman, instead he hit someone's hand in the crowd, after which a phone the person was holding fell.

A grab from the first video shows the incident from an angle where it seems as if Sarvankar is hitting a woman

The incident is said to have happened on Wednesday in Gomata Nagar, Dadar. The issue is related to a transit accommodation where MNS claims that Sarvankar was against the locals and favouring the builder.

These two grabs from the new video show a person holding a mobile (left, circled), which Sarvankar claimed emitted a light that disturbed him, and he raised his hand towards the light

Sandeep Deshpande, the MNS group leader in BMC and corporator from Dadar, claimed that when Sarvankar was questioned by people, he got angry.

However, Sena claims that no one was assaulted. "The locals know me very well, I have supported them every time and even now I am in their favour. I didn't assault any one," said Sarvankar.

Two videos
There are two videos of the incident that are doing the rounds.

In one video it is seen that Sarvankar raised his hand, and it appears that he hit a woman. Another video from another angle shows that Sarvankar raised his hand to hit someone holding a phone, which later fell down.

Sarvankar, explaining what happened, said, "While I was talking to some residents, there was a sudden flash similar to that of a green laser that fell on my face and disturbed me. I saw that someone was holding a phone and the light was coming from it. I raised my hand towards the light, because of which the phone fell down."

Another Sena leader said, "There were several people shooting the scene on mobile phones. If Sada Sarvankar wanted them not to shoot, how could stopping one phone serve the purpose. It was an accident, no Shiv Sainik will raise his hand on a woman."

With BMC polls nearing, the MNS will surely use this incident as a tool to get the locals against Shiv Sena. Dadar is the Sena's bastion. It wrestled the MLA seat from MNS in 2014, after it lost all the six corporation seats in 2012. This time Sena wants to win back the six seats in BMC polls scheduled for early next year.