Shiv Sena MP had ‘force-fed’ a Muslim man during Ramzan

GAIKWAD, WHO IS IN THE EYE OF A STORM FOR ASSAULTING AN AI STAFFER, ALSO HAS THREE CRIMINAL CASES AGAINST HIM

Three years ago, 11 Shiv Sena MPs created a ruckus at Delhi’s Maharashtra Sadan, where one of them forcefed a Muslim catering worker during the month of Ramzan. Among the MPs was Ravindra Gaikwad.

The 56-year-old Gaikwad is in the eye of the storm again for beating up an Air India staffer after a Pune-Delhi flight landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday morning.

This incident, or the Maharashtra Sadan episode, was not Gaikwad’s first run-in with the law.

As per his affidavit filed ahead of the 2014 General Elections, Gaikwad has three criminal cases against him.

In the past, the Osmanabad MP has been booked for voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and criminal intimidation.

As per the affidavit, one of the cases was registered in Tuljapur, Osmanabad on March 13, 2003, while two other cases were registered in Omerga, Osmanabad, on January 9, 2013.

On Thursday, a defiant and unapologetic Gaikwad admitted that he hit 60-year-old Air India duty manager R Sukumar “25 times” and has dared Air India to take action against him.

“It was not my fault, it (the AI employee) was his fault. He should apologise. First ask him to apologise then we will see,” Gaikwad told mediapersons in Delhi on Friday.

He has been summoned by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to Mumbai, even as the airline and other domestic carriers come together to demand a no-fly list for “unruly passengers” such as him. The MP was upset because he had to shift from business class to economy after a change of aircraft.

Senior Shiv Sena office bearers say that the MP is leaving Delhi at 7pm on Friday to meet Uddhav at his residence in Bandra.

Three years ago, after the Maharashtra Sadan incident, Uddhav Thackeray had supported the MPs and no action was taken against them. A PIL filed in Delhi High Court to disqualify the 11 MPs was dismissed later.

Born in Maharashtra’s Solapur district, Gaikwad is popularly known as ‘Ravi Sir’ as he taught commerce at a local college in Osmanabad.

Before being elected as an MP, the slipper-wielding lawmaker was elected twice to the Maharashtra Assembly.

He won from Umarga constituency in Osmanabad district in 1995 and 2004 Assembly elections. According to senior Sena leaders, Gaikwad was instrumental in creating a base for the party in Osmanabad district where Nationalist Congress Party had a strong presence