Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Friday strongly criticised Buldhana MLA Sanjay Gaikwad of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction for assaulting a canteen employee at the MLA hostel over allegedly being served stale food.

In a scathing editorial in its mouthpiece, Saamana, the Thackeray-led camp mocked Gaikwad, referring to him as part of the “towel-banyan gang” and sarcastically noting that he seems to have a sharper “sense of smell” than others.

The editorial questioned why no police case had been filed against the MLA, even though the canteen’s licence had been revoked by the Food and Drug Administration following the incident.

Saamana also criticised Gaikwad’s refusal to apologise despite being pulled up by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. It expressed dismay at the CM’s decision to leave the matter to the Assembly Speaker and Council Chairman, accusing the government of shirking responsibility.

“These crimes that tarnish Maharashtra’s image occurred in the Legislative Assembly, yet the culprits roam free. Is this the rule of law?” the Saamana editorial asked.

Accusing the government of turning a blind eye to its supporters’ misconduct, it said that the government’s stomach has become a warehouse where the crimes of its supporters are stored.

The editorial listed a series of governance failures — farmer suicides, collapsing infrastructure, poor conditions in tribal ashram schools, and the alleged imposition of Hindi in Maharashtra — and contrasted these with Gaikwad’s fury over a canteen meal.

“Why does Gaikwad not get angry over these injustices? But when he gets a little bit of dal, which is stale, he loses control and beats a poor employee. Is that the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray?” the editorial asked.

It took strong exception to Gaikwad invoking the late Sena patriarch in defence of his actions.

“If Gaikwad thinks he was following Balasaheb’s ideals by assaulting a canteen worker, then he has clearly misunderstood him. His ‘saheb’ is in Delhi and Thane — so he bullies the weak,” it said.

“If he truly wanted to protest, he should have carried the bad food into the Minister’s house or the Assembly hall wrapped in a towel. That would’ve been a real fight against injustice,” it added.

The editorial also pointed out that crores allegedly meant to grant ‘grace’ to a committee chairman were seized from a rest house in Dhule, but the Assembly Speaker has taken no action.

Reiterating that such incidents are damaging the state’s image, Saamana questioned: “If the food was indeed substandard, it could have been reported. What kind of manliness is it to beat up a helpless worker instead?”

–IANS

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