Evict hawkers or face MNS action, Raj Thackeray threatens Railways

Mumbai: Seeking to make a comeback in the political arena after his drubbing in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday led a protest march from Metro cinema to Churchgate station in the backdrop of the Elphinstone bridge stampede. He also warned the Railways to evict all hawkers from its premises in the next 15 days or his party would ‘take action’.

Mr Thackeray also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and confessed that he had been influenced by the “false picture of Gujarat’s development” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Earlier this week, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had also held a protest outside Churchgate station.

Mr Thackeray, who was accompanied by his family, met railway general managers and demanded that they evict hawkers to decongest foot overbridges and the station area. About 5,000 people participated in the protest, which clogged the entire Churchgate- Marine Lines stretch.  “I have told the railway officials to evict all the hawkers in 15 days, or else on the 16th day, my people will take charge,” he said.

Expressing grief over the stampede, the MNS chief said, “It is very sad that people died like worms and ants and railway officials are busy with meetings. We do not want a bullet train. It will only benefit Gujaratis. Suresh Prabhu who opposed it was removed as the railways minister.”  Mr Thackeray also mentioned an old video clip of Mr Modi that has gone viral in which the latter was seen saying bullet train was meant to “show off” only.

Taking on the Modi government, Mr Thackeray said it has put real issues on the backburner.

“Despite knowing the real needs of the people, the Modi government was busy in taking decisions like GST and Make in India. I am not against individuals but against their policies. I was shown a false picture of Gujarat development. But how long will you create false images,” Mr Thackeray asked. He was referring to his visit to Gujarat before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when he had supported the BJP.    

Meanwhile, an offense was registered against the organisers of the MNS rally for not taking prior police permission.

Lashing out at the BJP for its “Acche Din” slogan, Mr Thackeray said the people elected the party with hope in their hearts. “Now (transport minister Nitin) Gadkari said that acche din has become a hurdle for us. Modi had promised Rs

15 lakh in every account and (BJP national president) Amit Shah now said it was an election gimmick,” Mr Thackeray claimed.