Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday condemned the act of Shiv Sena legislator Sanjay Gaikwad slapping an employee of a canteen at the MLA's hostel in Mumbai, saying "such conduct does not send the right message".
"Such conduct does not behove anyone. It impacts the image of the state legislature, and as an MLA," Fadnavis said in the House.
The chief minister said if there is any issue regarding the food, a formal complaint can be made, and action can be taken on it.
"A wrong message goes among people about all MLAs that there is misuse of power," he added.
Fadnavis further said, "I request you (council chairman Ram Shinde) to look into the issue of MLA accommodation. If there are issues there, then action can be taken. But assault by public representatives does not send out a right message. This is serious issue. You (Shinde) and Speaker (Rahul Narwekar) take cognisance of it to take further action accordingly."
The Eknath Shinde-led party's legislator slapped the canteen employee after complaining about being served stale food.
{{/usCountry}}The Eknath Shinde-led party's legislator slapped the canteen employee after complaining about being served stale food.
{{/usCountry}}Even though members of the opposition and other parties criticised his behaviour, the Buldhana MLA said poor-quality food was served to him, and that he will raise this issue during the ongoing session of the Maharashtra legislature.
A video of the incident, which took place at Mumbai's Akashvani MLA hostel, went viral on social media. Gaikwad is seen abusing the canteen staff, refusing to pay the bill, and slapping the employee at the billing counter.
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Gaikwad reportedly ordered dinner from the MLA hostel canteen on Tuesday night and found the dal and rice delivered to his room to be stale. Infuriated by it, he rushed downstairs to the canteen, confronted the staff, made them smell the food and ended up slapping a staffer there.
"I had complained about the poor quality of food two or three times earlier. This time, the food was absolutely unacceptable. I will raise this issue in the ongoing legislature," the MLA said.
He later spoke to news agency PTI about the incident as said, "When someone fails to understand democratic language, then I have to (use) this language only," stressing that he had no regrets.
ALSO READ | 'I am a warrior': Sanjay Gaikwad explains why he hit canteen staff over food quality
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi slammed Gaikwad over his behaviour and said that despite being an elected representative, he has done this. "If he did not like that food, then it is well within his power and rights to follow legal procedure. However, he chose to beat that poor man... it is extremely shameful," she added.
Congress MLA Dr Jyoti Eknath Gaikwad said that while it is the right of every citizen to get good food, the canteen staff should not have been beaten, adding that, "he should have been questioned according to the rules". She further said, "He (Sanjay Gaikwad) is a representative of the people. If he acts this way, then what will the people do... Beating anyone is not a solution."