After Shiv Sena MLA slaps staffer over quality of daal, Maharashtra administration cancels canteen's licence

The MLA, Sanjay Gaikwad, punched, pushed the staffer on camera today. The incident sparked a row in the state, questioning the conduct of Sena leaders.

The decision to cancel the licence comes hours after the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) collected samples of the food for testing. The MLA alleged that he was served stale food.

The incident, which occurred at the Akashvani MLA canteen in Mumbai's Churchgate, was video recorded.

The viral video shows Sanjay Gaikwad, who had ordered a thali, walked into the canteen in a towel and vest and started asking the staff who had made the daal.

The Buldhana MLA even asked the staff to smell the daal, which the lawmaker claimed was rotten and also caused him discomfort after consumption.

When he got hold of Yogesh Kutran, who prepared the daal, Gaikwad asked him to smell it and immediately slapped him thrice.

Then the MLA punched Yogesh so hard that he fell down on the floor. Other canteen staff had also agreed that the daal was poor.

When he was asked about his misconduct, Gaikwad told NDTV, "I am an MLA and a warrior too. When someone chose not to understand despite repeated attempts, I used the language Balasaheb Thackeray has taught us. I lost it.

"I am a champion in judo, gymnastics and karate and wrestling. I am not a Gandhian. I have no regrets. I don't think I have done anything wrong. I will raise this issue in the Assembly too."

The incident happened days after some Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers slapped a 48-year-old shopkeeper, named Babulal Khimji Chaudhary, multiple times for not speaking in Marathi.

Reportedly, the workers questioned the shopkeeper over not speaking in Marathi. The shopkeeper tried to explain that he didn't know Marathi was compulsory, and he also lacked knowledge of the language.

When the MNS workers asked the shopkeeper which state he was working in, the shopkeeper responded, "Maharashtra".

When the protesters asked about the language spoken in Maharashtra, the shopkeeper said, "All languages are spoken here."

The workers got angry at the shopkeeper's response and started slapping him one by one.