Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has pulled up Shinde Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad for assaulting a canteen worker over serving allegedly stale food at the Akashwani MLA hostel canteen in Mumbai.
“Such conduct does not send the right message. It impacts the image of the state legislature and that of an MLA,” said Fadnavis inside the Legislative Council.
“MLA Sanjay Gaikwad’s behaviour is inappropriate and creates a negative perception about all legislators among the public,” he added.
On 9 July, Buldhana MLA Sanjay Gaikwad of the Shinde Shiv Sena, who was staying at the MLA hostel, complained about “stale” dal and rice which he was served.
In a video that went viral, Gaikwad is seen talking to the canteen workers angrily. He is also then seen punching and slapping a canteen employee.
Unrepentant, Gaikwad justified the assault by saying that previous complaints about the food had been ignored. “I have been visiting the canteen for 30 years and staying at the hostel for over 5 years. Eggs are 15 days old, non-vegetarian food is 15-20 days old, and so are the vegetables. Nearly 50,000 people come here and eat. Everyone has complaints. If this is not improved, I don’t mind repeating what I did,” Gaikwad said to reporters outside assembly.
“I ordered food at 10 pm yesterday, and after having the first bite, I felt there was something wrong. After smelling it, I found it was stale food. I went down and asked the manager who made it. I made everyone smell the food, and all of them found it stale. I explained to them again that they should make clean and good food, eating poison-like food is a health hazard. If they still do not listen, then I have my own way of making them understand,” he added.
However, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Gaikwad’s party leader has also reprimanded him.
Speaking to reporters, Shinde said, “He got angry because the food was stale. However, violence is not a solution. There is law and order in the state. I have explained it to him to not repeat this again.”
But this did not placate the Opposition, which has attacked Gaikwad for his behaviour.
Shiv Sena UBT MLA Aaditya Thackeray told reporters, “This is condemnable. His arrogance needs to be treated well in this assembly only.”
Supriya Sule MP of NCP(SP) said, “If there is any problem, there is a complaint book. This is nothing but arrogance of power. He should be booked under law.”
Gaikwad, a two-time MLA from Buldhana is not new to controversy. In 2024, he declared he would pay Rs 11 lakh to anyone who would chop off Rahul Gandhi’s tongue.
He had also landed in legal trouble with the Forest Department after claiming in a video that he had hunted a tiger in 1987 and wore its tooth as a pendant.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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