Mumbai: Legislators of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Wednesday staged a ‘lungi, baniyan’ protest outside the Maharashtra Assembly to condemn the assault of a hostel canteen employee by Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad and the inaction over the incident.
Videos show leaders, including Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balahasaheb Thackeray) MLC Ambadas Danve and NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad, among others, wearing ‘baniyans’ and towels as ‘lungi’ over their usual attire. They also held placards against the ‘goonda raj’ of the ruling alliance and raised slogans such as ‘we condemn the chaddi baniyan gang’.
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Slamming the ruling State Government, Leader of Opposition in the State Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, said that the assault by the MLA “shows that even the government is backing such elements”.
One of the protesters, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sachin Ahir, said that the Sena MLA’s action has “tarnished” the image of Maharashtra MLAs. “A non-cognisable complaint is just an eyewash; an FIR must be filed against Sanjay Gaikwad. We demand strict action. The state government only makes statements but does not take any concrete action. Eknath Shinde’s warning is just a piece of news,” he said.
Last week, Sanjay Gaikwad, the Sena MLA from Buldhana, triggered a massive controversy after a video of him slapping the employee, Yogesh Kutran, of Akashvani MLA hostel at Churchgate surfaced on social media. According to officials, Gaikwad had ordered dinner from the canteen but found the dal and rice delivered in his room to be stale and foul-smelling. Angered by this, the leader went to the canteen and confronted the employee. During the altercation, Gaikwad slapped and punched the employee of the canteen.
The incident triggered massive criticism, with the Opposition slamming the ruling alliance of “goonda raj” and demanding strict action against the MLA.
Gaikwad, however, remained unabashedly unapologetic about his shocking actions. He continued to defend himself and said that he hit the manager and not the staffer, “which was right”.
“I have been complaining about it for the last two to three years but in vain. It was not just me, but several other MLAs, their personal assistants and other people raised similar complaints but nothing came out of it. I knew the road I adopted was incorrect but taking the wrong road has led me to the right path, and this is why a case has been registered against him today,” he said, referring to the cancellation of the canteen’s licence by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration.
According to Gaikwad, his action “helped resolve the grievances of lakhs of people”. The Sena MLA said that he would repeat his actions if the same thing happened again. He also walked out of a live interview after NDTV tried to hold him accountable.
