The Mumbai Police on Thursday registered a case against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for leading a protest march in south Mumbai even after being denied permission, ANI reported. Thackeray had led the march earlier in the day, demanding better rail infrastructure for commuters in Maharashtra, after a stampede on a foot overbridge at Elphinstone Road station on September 29 killed 23 people.
Party workers began the protest outside Metro Cinema where they were joined by Thackeray. Thackeray addressed the crowd after they marched to the Western Railway headquarters in Churchgate.
He said the railway administration had 15 days to ensure hawkers don’t sit on the foot overbridges at Mumbai stations, and threatened MNS workers “will take matters into their own hands” if the Railways fail to act, the Hindustan Times reported. “If you don’t solve our issues, my next march will not be so peaceful,” Thackeray said.
Thackeray accused the government of focussing on trivial issues such as demonetisation, Swachh Bharat, yoga and Goods and Service Tax. He said the Narendra Modi government had betrayed people who trusted it. Thackeray criticised the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, saying it was “being built for a handful of people in Gujarat and Mumbai, but the entire country will have to repay the loan to be taken for it”.
The Mumbai Police had denied permission for the MNS protest rally, but party leader Nitin Sardesai said on Thursday morning that the march would take place, ANI reported. The rally caused traffic jams in south Mumbai.
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