Shiv Sena MLA from Niphad,Anil Kadam,who was caught on camera abusing female employees of a toll booth on August 22,sent his resignation to party president Uddhav Thackeray Saturday. Kadams resignation,which comes in the backdrop of the gangrape of a photojournalist in Mumbai,has not yet been accepted by the party. I am resigning as an MLA as my behavior has caused problems for my party, Anil Kadam said. The Shiv Sena,which planned to go all out after Home Minister R R Patil over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state,was caught in an uncomfortable situation as one of its own members was caught on camera abusing women at the Pimpalgaon toll booth. Sena insiders claimed Kadams behavior had embarrassed the party and not taking any action against him would lead to losing a chance to politically take on the Congress-NCP leadership. Sena sources further said that Kadam was asked to put in his papers,which are now with the Shiv Sena president. Kadam,however,claimed that his grouse against the people operating the toll booth remained and they had been unnecessarily harassing him for the past few months. Thackeray,meanwhile,said that he would look into all the matters of the case before arriving at a decision on Kadams resignation. Kadam was stopped at a toll booth on Thursday in Pimpalgaon,which is manned by female workers. The toll booth operator allegedly failed to recognise the MLA and is said to have asked him for his identity card. Kadam claimed that though the toll operators knew that he was an MLA,he was repeatedly harassed and asked to show his identity card. An infuriated Kadam was caught on camera abusing the female workers and asking his supporters to go on a rampage.
