BJP nervous as Shinde fails to rein in Sena MLAS

Ministers courting controversy

- Yogesh Naik

MUMBAI: It’s an image that's hard to unsee ~ Shiv Sena MLA from Buldhana, Sanjay Gaikwad, clad ina vest, a towel around his waist, forcing a canteen employee to sniff stale food before punching him to the ground, at an MLAs’ hostel in Mumbai. If he’s not using his fists, Gaikwad is busy shooting off his mouth. In September 2024, he announced a prize for severing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's tongue for the latter's remarks on reservations.

Gaikwad is one of a long list of Sena MLAs to misbehave in public in recent times, embarrassing party chief and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. But local body elections are only months away and now the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Sena’s senior alliance partner in the Mahayuti government, is growing worried. It believes such unruly behaviour could seriously hurt its electoral prospects.

With embarrassing incidents piling up, the BJP is concerned that its alliance partner may be undermining the Mahayuti’s achievements such as infrastructure development and the inclusion of Maratha forts on the UNESCO list.