MUMBAI, July 13 -- It's an image that's hard to unsee - Shiv Sena MLA from Buldhana, Sanjay Gaikwad, clad in a 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. At a meeting of senior Sena and BJP leaders recently, Shinde was urged to rein in his MLAs. A senior BJP minister present at the meeting, said: "We have local body elections coming up and controversial utterances by these MLAs paint the ruling parties in a terrible light. Worse, the Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) are very active on social media and they are quick to pick this up." A Sena leader at the meeting said that just like the BJP sends party functionaries and leaders to attend talks and lectures at the Sangh Parivar campus at Keshav Shrusti in Uttan, the Sena should have a similar system for their members. "Some of us have told our chief Eknath Shinde to issue a set of 'dos and donts' to leaders at all levels." But there's little Shinde can do. Every one of these MLAs supported him when he split the Sena and teamed up with the BJP, to form the Mahayuti government in 2022. How can he discipline loyalists who helped him achieve his chief ministerial ambitions in the first Mahayuti government? A couple of days ago, MLA from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Sanjay Shirsat, for instance, was seen in a video, seated on a bed with a travel bag full of what appeared to be wads of currency notes. Shirsat claims the bag had clothes, not cash, in it but the opposition was quick to seize the moment. Shirsat is a close associate of Shinde. He was appointed party spokesperson and then minister in the second Mahayuti government, in return for sticking by Shinde. But rewarding loyalists like Shirsat have emboldened other troublemakers in the party. Shirsat's cabinet colleague, Shambhuraj Desai challenged Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab in the legislative council on Thursday. When Parab called him a "traitor", Desai shouted, "Tu baher ye tula baghto... ("Let's take this outside"). Few can forget how former health minister Tanaji Sawant, MLA from Bhoom Paranda, got the DGCA to divert a private plane back to Pune in February 2025, when his son left for Bangkok with friends without letting his family know his whereabouts. Controversial statements like the one made by Kalamnuri MLA Santosh Bangar are hard to forget. Bangar had said last year that "children of voters would not die of hunger if they had come out to vote". Sena sources said the party is setting a terrible example for its members. "The spokespersons of other parties, both ruling and opposition, meet every morning to discuss the line they will take when addressing the media. Only their spokespersons are authorised to speak. But Sena spokespersons are unable to keep party MLAs in check. They shoot their mouths off and use strong-arm tactics, almost anything to be seen on TV or captured on video." Asked to comment on the heavy-handed behaviour of Sena leaders, party leader Gajanan Kirtikar said, "We do have a provision for disciplinary action. The committee has the power to chargesheet a member and he has to reply, leaving the committee to decide on punitive action, which can even mean suspension or dismissal."...