Hitting out at the ruling Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the BJP, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Sunday questioned the hike in the toll fee in Thane and Mumbai.
The MNS chief, for whom the toll issue in Maharashtra has been a hobby horse, further demanded to know the reason behind Chief Minister Eknath Shinde withdrawing his court petition against toll collection in the two cities.
“I have a question for Eknath Shinde. He had himself filed a petition against the hike in the toll fees. But he has withdrawn it. Why did he withdraw the petition? Who made him withdraw it?” he asked, speaking to reporters in Thane.
He further said that in the manifesto of the newly formed Shinde-Fadnavis government last year, one of the promises was to make Maharashtra toll-free.
“The same was also announced in 2014 and 2017 [when Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP and undivided Sena coalition were in power]. But that promise has not been fulfilled as yet,” he said.
Mr. Thackeray further observed that as CM Shinde is from Thane, he could not afford to incur the people’s ire over the toll hike and hence, must focus seriously on this issue.
“I will meet CM Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in the next two-four days to discuss the issue,” he said.
The rates at the five toll plazas in Mumbai were hiked from October 1.
The MNS chief further said that over the years, the MNS has held many agitations over the issue of tolls, compelling authorities to shut down more than 60 toll booths.
Since last year, there have been rumours swirling of a possible alliance between the ruling Shiv Sena (Shinde faction)-BJP and the MNS ahead of the crucial civic elections in the State. The MNS has changed its ideological direction since 2019 by veering towards ‘Hindutva’ politics, signalled by Mr. Thackeray’s adoption of a saffron flag incorporating Chhatrapati Shivaji’s royal seal or ‘Rajmudra’ in 2020.
Since then, his party has inched ever closer to the BJP in an attempt to seize the ‘Hindutva’ space from the Shiv Sena led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
To this end, the BJP and the Shinde faction feel that if they can secure an alliance with the MNS, then they could snare a large portion of the core Marathi-speaking vote-bank in Mumbai city and undercut the Uddhav Thackeray faction.
However, with the civic polls nowhere in sight, the MNS chief has been hinting that his party would be going it alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.
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