The Chappal is more powerful than the Constitution for Shiv Sena

Time and again there have been incidents about Members of Parliament and MLAs misbehaving with common people and displaying their high-handedness. And though some of them have totally refuted the claims, there are others like Ravindra Gaekwad of the Shiv Sena who thinks that he should accept that he did it. The incident occurred at a plane that arrived at the Delhi airport and the MP who was on board had an altercation with a 60 year old staffer of the Air India and Mr. Gaekwad beat him with his chappal and also tried to throw him down the aisle onto the stairs.

The media took up the issue and all the national TV channels pointed out his high-handed behavior. Apparently Gaekwad is not sorry about the incident and says that he did what anybody would do. He told the staffer misbehaved with him and insulted him. The Shiv Sena MP has no apologies to serve to anybody.

But what is the reason that the ministers of the country consider their privileges to be their birth rights, something that ‘they were born to own’. The Shiv Sena has no comment on this topic and Chief Uddhav Thackeray has not decided whether he must remove this minister from his party. The Shiv Sena has always been a face of violent expression in the political image of Maharashtra and time and again the Sena has been expressive to assert the Swarajya model of Chhatrapati Shivaji. But to assert their status as MP for a business class seat doesn’t seem like the right thing to do. The FIA has banned Gaekwad on any of its planes unless he asks for forgiveness.

But will that be enough. This is not the first incident where a minister has shown unconstitutional behavior. There have been fights over paying tolls at toll booths, allowing uninterrupted flows on traffic jams and more. If violence is the only answer to be given to misbehavior and insult possibly the women must go on to break every law and kill people who stalk them in buses, trains and roads. People must engage in fist fights and verbal abuses in markets. Employees must hurl chairs and tables at their bosses and parliament sessions should be done using swords and AK-47s. And everybody should accept this law of barbarianism and forget our constitution.

Otherwise the wise Chief of Shiv Sena should take an informed decision to remove this tainted minister from his party and punish him for his inappropriate behavior. This is a chance for Uddhav Thackeray to come out of his father’s shadow and emerge into Maharashtra as a powerful leader who will respect the law of the land. Or else it will a chance for MNS chief Raj Thackeray to get the center piece in Maharashtra politics.