MNS chief Raj Thackeray calls meet, asks party workers to be more assertive

The meeting follows Sunday’s assault by alleged hawkers after an MNS group had gone to a local market to demand that shopkeepers in the area ensure they put up Marathi signboards.

MNS, Raj Thackeray, Illegal hawkers, MNS hawkers clash, Mumbai news, Indian Express

MNS leader Raj Thackeray. (Express Photo/Prashant Nadkar/File)

Following clashes between Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers and hawkers in the city, MNS chief Raj Thackeray called a meeting of senior party leaders at his residence to review the situation and is reported to have told his workers to be more assertive.

The meeting follows Sunday’s assault by alleged hawkers on the party’s Vikhroli division head, Vishwajit Dolam and two other party workers, in Vikhroli after an MNS group had gone to a local market to demand that shopkeepers in the area ensure they put up Marathi signboards. A group of hawkers present at the spot allegedly roughed up the MNS workers. On October 28, another MNS worker, Sushant Malvade, suffered a fractured skull after being thrashed by hawkers in Malad.

Following the assaults on his party workers, Raj Thackeray called an impromptu meeting at his house. Thackeray is reported to have questioned his leaders on why his partymen were being beaten up with impunity.

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The MNS workers are presently caught in a bind as local hawkers are taking them head on.

Meanwhile, the police have also been tough on MNS workers who have been blamed for beating up hawkers. In Thane, the police had sent a show cause notice to MNS activists accused of beating up hawkers directing them to explain why they should not be ordered to execute a bond and pay a surety of Rs 1 crore each. The MNS had to fight hard to reduce the bond to Rs 1 lakh and could do so only after approaching the Bombay High Court.

Read | MNS workers, hawkers clash in Vikhroli; 6 held

At the meeting, the MNS leaders were told that on Friday they would all be handed over the directives of the Bombay High Court pertaining to areas where hawkers could not operate. The MNS leaders have been directed to hand over the directives to all BMC and police officials in their locality to build pressure on them to act against hawkers. While the party had managed to gain some traction over its stand against hawkers after the Elphinstone Railway station stampede, it has been losing leaders who defected from the party.

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