Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, Jul 10: Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad, no stranger to controversy, is once again in the news after a video showing him slapping and punching a canteen worker at the MLA hostel in Churchgate, Mumbai, went viral. The Buldhana legislator, reportedly upset over the quality of dal served to him, stormed into the canteen and physically assaulted a staff member, an act that has invited widespread public and political condemnation.

In his defense, Gaikwad stated that the dal served to him was "rotten," which caused him to vomit. “I didn’t even change my clothes. I went straight to the canteen and told them to smell it. The manager himself admitted it was not edible,” he told reporters. He further accused the canteen of consistently serving stale food, stating that “chicken and egg stocks are days old” and warned that it was a threat to the health of all who dine there.

This is not the first time the MLA has made headlines for controversial behaviour or inflammatory statements. Gaikwad, a two-term legislator, has previously stirred national outrage on multiple occasions. In January, shortly after winning his second assembly election, he courted backlash by comparing voters who accepted liquor and cash in exchange for votes to prostitutes. “They are worse than prostitutes,” he said, alleging vote-selling practices in his constituency.

Despite public uproar, no disciplinary action was taken against him by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction.

Back in September last year, he provoked further controversy by offering a reward of ?11 lakh to anyone who would chop off Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s tongue, following Gandhi's remarks on the reservation system during an interaction in the US.

Adding to his record of brazen acts, Gaikwad once bragged about having killed a tiger in 1987 and wearing its tooth around his neck, which later invited a case under the Wildlife Protection Act. In yet another instance, a video showing a police officer washing his car drew attention, which the MLA defended by saying the cop did it voluntarily after he vomited inside the vehicle.

Responding to the latest incident, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde criticized the act of violence, distancing themselves from the MLA’s actions. However, Gaikwad remained unapologetic, invoking a language angle in his defense. “If Marathi people had been allowed to run the canteen, such lapses wouldn’t have happened,” he remarked, accusing the canteen operators, whom he referred to as “Shettys,” of long-standing negligence.

The MLA's repeated controversial behaviour and unapologetic stance continue to raise eyebrows across Maharashtra's political and civil landscape, intensifying debates on political accountability and leadership conduct in public office.