“The food was stale,” said Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad as he justified assaulting an employee of a canteen at the MLA Hostel in Mumbai, a video of which has gone viral. He plans to raise “the issue” now in the ongoing monsoon session of the Maharashtra assembly.
Political opponents, particularly the Congress, have recalled how Gaikwad — from deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena — is the man who last year announced ₹11 lakh as reward to anyone who could cut off Rahul Gandhi’s tongue over a statement he had made about reservations.
In the viral video, Gaikwad is seen abusing the canteen operator, refusing to pay the bill, and then slapping a staff member who was at the billing counter. He goes on to push and shove others too.
{{/usCountry}}In the viral video, Gaikwad is seen abusing the canteen operator, refusing to pay the bill, and then slapping a staff member who was at the billing counter. He goes on to push and shove others too.
{{/usCountry}}He had ordered dinner from the canteen on Tuesday night and found the dal-rice delivered in his room to be stale and foul-smelling. He left his room fuming and stormed into the canteen, where he got violent. He told others present there, too, not to pay for the food.
He later spoke to PTI about the episode, and stressed he had no regrets.
“When someone fails to understand democratic language, then I have to [use] this language only,” he told the news agency.
He added that his violence was not the same as that by MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) workers: “I didn't thrash him seeing whether he is Marathi or Hindi-speaking. I had complained to concerned authorities on several occasions. I will repeat it.”
He has starred in viral videos showing or professing violence in the past too. Last year, a day after triggering a row by announcing a reward for those who would chop off Rahul Gandhi's tongue, Gaikwad courted another controversy by saying he would bury Congress dogs.