The exchange was the latest escalation in a political tussle between Mahale and Gaikwad that began during a birthday celebration for Vidyadhar Mahale, an Officer on Special Duty in the Chief Minister’s Office and Shweta Mahale’s husband

Published on: Sep 14, 2026, 07:47:10 IST

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MUMBAI: After punching a canteen staffer over “stale food” and threatening a publisher over the title of a historical book, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad has courted controversy yet again, this time over an allegedly obscene remark about a woman’s body.

The latest controversy erupted after BJP MLA Shweta Mahale Patil, 42, of the Chikhli Assembly constituency, filed a police complaint against Gaikwad over his response to her remark, “Baap to baap rahega.” Gaikwad allegedly followed it with a crude reference to how a woman could claim to be a father and possess a male body. His remarks have been widely criticised on social media as obscene and misogynistic.

The Buldhana police have registered a non-cognisable offence against Gaikwad. An FIR is yet to be registered.

The exchange was the latest escalation in a political tussle between Mahale and Gaikwad that began during a birthday celebration for Vidyadhar Mahale, an Officer on Special Duty in the Chief Minister’s Office and Shweta Mahale’s husband.

BJP workers had organised a grand celebration for Vidyadhar Mahale in Buldhana city. A power cut during the event prompted Shweta Mahale to accuse Gaikwad of conspiring to disrupt the function and hinder the BJP’s efforts to expand its political base in the city. Gaikwad denied any involvement in the power outage, saying Mahale was like his sister. He also questioned the need for such a grand celebration and alleged that people had been brought in from outside to attend it.

However, while responding to Mahale’s “baap” remark on September 7, Gaikwad made the comment that has now triggered the police complaint. In essence, he appeared to argue that the phrase could be used as a political retort, but questioned how a woman could claim to be a father in the literal sense, referring to the male body in a manner critics described as obscene and misogynistic.

The incident has renewed criticism of Gaikwad and marks his third major controversy in the past year.

In July 2025, he allegedly assaulted an MLA canteen employee following a dispute over food that he claimed was stale. The police registered a non-cognisable offence in that case but did not file an FIR.

In April 2026, Gaikwad allegedly abused Kolhapur-based publisher Prashant Ambi over the publication of Who Was Shivaji?, a decades-old book written by late communist leader Govind Pansare. Gaikwad objected to the title, questioning why the word “Chhatrapati” had not been used while referring to Shivaji Maharaj.

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